


Poisoned Nightmare

by Slendergirl



Category: Bakugan Battle Brawlers
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, F/M, Gen, Minor Character Death, in canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 47,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25833691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slendergirl/pseuds/Slendergirl
Summary: When Fabia and Shun are put to the test, will they win? Deception coats the words of many. Poison drips off of the fangs of enemies. Nightmares are never ending. In the world of constant battle, who will prevail? This is a rewrite/continuation of an abandoned fan fiction of a friend, I do have permission to do this and the link is in the author's note. This story takes place inbetween Ren joining the Neathia and Jake being brain washed. I'll probably skip over the cannon parts once I reach them to the end of the war.
Relationships: Dan Kuso/Runo Misaki, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Shun Kazami/Fabia Sheen
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Poisoned Nightmares](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/665440) by EmberAmberFirdaus. 



> https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8419652/1/Poisoned-Nightmares Link to the original fic! I had to rewrite the beginning of this but it's mostly the same as it was written.

It was an attack persay, more of a stealth mission that would probably have some fighting, their were documents that Kazarina had, they had plans that would make the next battle next to impossible to win, they needed the documents and the plans, so the brawlers were called before Serena, so she could tell the brawlers of their mission and give them a warning about the new weapon Kazarina had. 

After giving them their mission Kazarina said: “Oh, and Brawlers? Be sure to watch out for one of Kazarina's newer inventions, a gas that will make you relive your worst moments in life-over and over again. The poison will make you remember the deaths and tragedies of anyone you care about, and twist and warp them so it seems like it’s your fault. Many of our Castle Knights have experienced this. It may not kill you, but It is not a pleasant way to spend the week.”

“A week!” Dan called out surprised at the length, how could anyone survive a week of living through all that.

“Yes and there’s not much we can do, we can treat the poison but not the dreams, so avoid it if you can.”

“Alright, already lets go!” Fabia called out, she was jittery bouncing on her heels her teeth clenched before started running to the transporter room

“What’s with her?” Dad asked watching the princess run from the throne room, not noticing the glares of his friends until he turned back to face them.

“It’s the anniversary of her engagement to Jin.” Shun said quietly, focusing his eyes on the ground.

Serena sighed the nodded. “It is, perhaps it’s not best that we hold the mission today.” The queen stated, though she was interrupted before she could say anymore by Fabia’s face appearing on the telescreen. 

“Come on already, Shun, Ren come with me, we need to be stealthy to get into the lab, Dan, Jake and Marucho distract the main forces until we get out, then we’ll all meet at the teleportation spot.” She said, her tone was eerily calm. 

“Alright princess.” Shun said, he and Ren went to the teleportation room where Fabia was waiting for them, as the teleporter glowed a single tear slipped down the girl’s cheek. 

Luckily into the castle wasn’t the problem, they were running down the hall when they heard something down the hall.

"Bakugan Stand, Haos Lumagrowl!"

Kazarina, while Fabia, Shun, and Ren are distracted, throws out a little metal ball that starts beeping softly.

All of a sudden, Kazarina jumps on Lumagrowl's back and he runs away.

"What was that all about?" asks Ren suspiciously.

Before Shun or Fabia can reply, the ball explodes and a green gas starts heading toward Ren and Shun.

Fabia, realizing what it is, and also that there is no way they can get out of the way in time, throws herself at Shun and Ren, knocking them out of the way.

"Huh? What was that for?" Asks Ren, surprised.

"It's the gas. She just saved our lives!" Exclaims Shun. "Now she's suffering because of our carelessness!"

While the two boys talked, Fabia started to see things.

Terrible things, things no child should have had to endure.

Dark memories, from the darkest places in her mind, started to resurface.

She saw her parents, brave, beautiful, and kind, be murdered in front of her eyes once again.

She saw Jin, loyal, handsome Jin, be shot down in front of her eyes, leaving her alone in the world.

It was a cruel slideshow, never ending, and terrifying her.

"Fabia!" Shun yelled.

He raced over to her as she began to cry, tears streaming down her face, but yet she never made a sound.

Her always friendly green eyes were dark and sad, and she was obviously suffering.

"Fabia, talk to me! Fabia, what are you seeing?"

She reached up and touched Shun's head with her second finger, and he started to see what she was seeing.

He was shocked.

Not only had her fiance been murdered by Kazarina, but he had been murdered right in front of her eyes, while she was held back by her own guards.

Her parents, of whom Shun had always wondered about, had been tortured in front of her when she was a child, after they had traded their lives for her after she had been taken as a captive.

She had been captured two more times by the Gundalians, including Ren, when her guards betrayed her, and even her impressive martial arts couldn't save her.

They had tortured her to get the secrets that they needed, like where the Sacred Orb lay, and how the shields surrounding Neathia worked.

Every time, she had refused to say anything, and every time, she was electrocuted for it. That wasn't even the worst part.

She would be tortured up to the point of dying, then one of Kazarina's potions would bring her back, just so they could torture her again.

Finally, Commander Jin took control, and saved her, and kept her safe from any harm.

Her savior.

Her knight in shining armor.

When he proposed to her, she immediately said yes, and thought all would be well, that she and her people would be safe from harm.

There were many more memories, but when Fabia fainted, her finger slipped, and Shun found himself and Fabia lying on the floor, with a very concerned-looking Ren peering down at them anxiously.

"What did you see?" Ren asked.

Shun replied slowly, "Even my past, anyone's past, couldn't compare with hers. She’s already been through so much."

"I didn't help with that. To me, she was just a spoiled brat, a protected Princess. I thought my life was so much more miserable than mine, so she deserved to know misery. I can't believe how wrong I was. I was so stupid!" Ren hissed cursing himself under his breath

"Not...your...fault...Barodius...his fault..." Fabia weakly woke up for one moment from her torment.

"Fabia!" The boys exclaimed.

"How are you awake?"

"Are you still seeing things?"

"Need...to keep...moving..." Fabia tried to stand up, but her legs wouldn't support her.

As she started to fall, Shun caught her, with Ren close behind.

"We're taking you back to the palace. You need to go back. You'll kill yourself if you try to go on!"

"No...I'm...Fine!..."

"No, you're not! You're still under that poison." Shun replied, upset.

"Shun's right. You're top priority right now." Ren said to her.

"I command you...to...keep... moving! I will have them arrest you if you don't! I don't matter as much as all the people in Neathia who will die if we don't get those documents...Ahhhh!"

Fabia groaned and started to collapse, but somehow managed to get back up and started walking.

"Princess, Shun and Ren are right. If you don't go back, you will die! Please, Princess! You must go back." Aranaut started to plead with her.

"We're almost there...anyway." Fabia weakly tried to argue. "Please. I can't let their...deaths...mean...nothing..."

The last comment was directed towards Shun, and all eyes, Gundalian, Neathian and Bakugan, turned to him.

"What do you think, Hawktor? Linehalt? Ren? Aranaut? Do you think she'll be able to make it? Aranaut, you know the Princess the best. Will she make it, or will she collapse if she keeps trying?" Shun asked looking at all the others in the room

"The Princess can be very stubborn if she doesn't want to do something. She thinks of herself as meaningless, compared to you, and the rest of the Brawlers. I think...I think we should do as she asks." The Haos Bakugan replied.

"All right." Shun turned to Fabia. "We'll go, but only on one condition. You have to promise you'll tell us if you get any worse, okay?"

"Fine...I..promise." Fabia tried to get up by herself, and fell.

Shun picked her up, surprised and concerned with how light she was, and started to run, with Ren close behind.

"I...don't need help...to...run!"

"You need to relax, okay?"

Fabia shuddered, and tears ran down her face.

"The visions! They must be getting worse!" Shun exclaimed.

"Keep...moving...I'm...fine..."

Finally, they reached Kazarina's lair, grabbed the documents, and took off.

Noticing that Fabia's condition was getting worse by the second, Shun told Ren to find the rest of the Brawlers and tell them what was going on, while he teleported back to Neathia with Fabia.

"Hang on, Fabia. Just...hang on."

When they got back to the Royal Palace, Castle Knight guards, Commander Elright, Queen Serena, and Linus met them at the door.

The guards tried to take Fabia from Shun, but he refused, holding on to her like she was his lifeline.

"Shun, what's wrong?" Asked Commander Elright.

"Are you okay?" Shun shook his head, swallowing.

"I'm fine. Just...Just let me take her to the infirmary. I just...can't..."

Commander Elright looked at Queen Serena, and she nodded her head.

"Very well. Linus, prepare a hospital bed for the Princess."

"I'm...fine...Stop fussing...I'll be...okay...not worth it...nooooooooooo!"

As she was talking, Fabia started to drift off, muttering about what she was seeing, and Shun could only imagine how painful it must be for her.

"Of course, Commander!" Linus was obviously worried about the Princess, and hurried off, with Shun on his heels.

"Here. Put her in this bed. I'll give her an IV filled with an anti-poison fluid, but the effects will still be the same. Hopefully, she'll survive."

"Hopefully!? I thought you said that..." Shun started to freak out.

"Calm down. Getting upset will not help her. Unfortunately, if one has a terribly difficult past, the effects of the poison can...destroy their minds, and body. The Princess is very strong, so I wouldn't worry if I were you."

Linus sounded worried, despite what he told Shun.

"I'll leave you here. I have to go back to fetch the rest of the Brawlers. They don't know how to teleport here on their own."

"All right. Linus?" Shun said barely looking up

"Yes?"

"I can't lose another person, especially not her."

Linus didn't have a response for that, so he left with one more piece of advice. "If she seems to be having a particularly bad memory, hold her hand. It will put her slightly more at ease."

Before Shun could reply, Linus hurried out...with a...was that a smirk on his face?

Shun's face blushed bright red, and he wondered if he could help her any other way.

Suddenly, he remembered how she had put her fingers on his head, and he had seen what she was seeing.

He wondered if he put her fingers on her head, if the results would be the same.

Well, it was worth a shot.

Slowly, carefully, ever so carefully, he started to reach toward her head...when all of a sudden, the rest of the Brawlers burst in.

Shun, not expecting this, shot up, and tripped over all the wires and machines attached to the bed, and to the Princess.

The Brawlers, kind of confused at the behavior their usually silent and graceful ninja just displayed, started to laugh.

Dan stepped forward, and helped a now stony-faced Shun untangle the wires.

Shun's face was bright red, though, giving away his embarrassment.

"Jeez, did we interrupt something?" Dan chuckled.

"No."

"Okay, not to change the subject, but...how is she? Will she be ok?"

"I hope so."

Worried, the rest of the Brawlers crowded around the bed.

Fabia suddenly woke up, and asked for Shun and Aranaut.

"Shun, come here...take...care of...Aranaut for...me...Don't let...him...get...hurt...Aranaut,...you have...to listen...to Shun...for me...ok?"

Both answered, somewhat quietly, "Of course, Princess."

"Dan?"

"Yeah, Fabia?"

"Don't get hurt out there. And do not go into the jungle unless you've got Shun or Commander Elright with you. The Brawlers need you."

"Thanks."

As Fabia said this, she became visibly weaker. She started to fall back, but Shun caught her and lay her down carefully, as though she was a piece of china.

Her eyes slid shut, and stayed shut.

Even when she was sleeping, she was still suffering.

Her fists bunched up, and relaxed, and she started mumbling sadly.

The Brawlers, except for Shun and Ren, left the room, sad.

"Shun?"

"Yeah, Ren?"

"Don't beat yourself up. It's not your fault. She knew what she was doing..."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No, I guess not. Listen, if she needs anything, call me down. It's partly my fault she's so hurt. I...I never should have hurt her...I was so stupid. Aranaut, I'm so sorry."

"Huh...I...I suppose she would forgive you. If that is so, then I will forgive you as well. You are very lucky the Princess is compassionate...As a warning to both of you, do not go outside in your Gundalian form, not at all if you can help it. The people of Neathia...they still remember you hurting the Princess, broadcasting it live, and so they may not be as forgiving. They already do not understand why she would forgive you. Regardless, just...be careful."

"Thank you, Aranaut." Linehalt was talking now.

"We both appreciate it. If you need anything, just call us."

"Thank you."

Ren and Linehalt left.

Aranaut started shaking, and making strange noises, like he was trying not to cry.

"Aranaut, what's wrong?" Asked Hawktor, worried.

"I...She...It's nothing."

"No, it's not." Said Shun. "What's wrong?

"The Princess is...very strong...and very brave. Very often those admirable qualities get her into trouble. Once, disguised as a commoner, she tried to stop people of other planets from smuggling slaves, Neathians, out of the planet. She was captured, too, and managed to escape, along with all the slaves who had been captured. When she came back, her uncle had died. I'm afraid that she thinks she is worthless.

But, she's not! If she hadn't saved me from that awful place in Kazarina's experimentation, really, torture chamber, I would be dead. Now she may be having terrible dreams and pain because of my inability to protect both Jin and her."

Both Shun and Hawtor were shocked.

It was the most Aranaut had ever said at one time, at least to them, before.

Also, the fact that Fabia thought so little of herself.

Shun thought, 'How can she think so little of herself? She's the most amazing person I've ever met! I wish that I could tell her that...'

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh! No, please, stop! Don't hurt them! Hurt me, instead! Mom! Dad! Nooooooooooo!"

Fabia started screaming at the top of her lungs, her eyes still closed.

"Help! Somebody! They're-They're DYING! Please! Oh, God! No! There's so much blood. Please, somebody, help them! Help me! Please!"

Castle Knight guards came bursting in, with Commander Elright at the front of the line. "Castle Knights, go back to guard the Queen. If you hear any more screaming, do not come. She...There's nothing more we can do for her."

Everyone, except for Linus, left. "Linus, are you sure there isn't more we can do...?"

"Yes...I'm sure."

They both left, looking back at the Princess miserably.

"Oh, Fabia." Shun whispered. "I wish that I could...wait, maybe I can! I'll try what I was going to try earlier, when Dan interrupted me!"

Shun was talking excitedly now, to no one in particular. The two Bakugan looked at each other, befuddled.

As he reached toward her head, there was no hesitation.

Fabia was obviously in agony, and he wanted to know what she was seeing.

He thought that maybe some pain might transfer to him, easing her.

As soon as his fingers touched her head, he was transported to a whole new world, a dark new world.

'Mommy! Daddy!' An adorable little girl runs toward her parents, obviously excited about the picnic sitting on the ground.

All of a sudden, her parents are replaced by terrifying, huge monsters, with bits of human leg and flesh sticking out of their mouths.

By the looks of the scepter hanging out of one of the beast's mouths, the monster has eaten her parents, the King and Queen.

The little girl starts sobbing, and is scooped up as the monsters start to eat her, still alive...

"Aaah!" Shun screams.

"What happened?" Asked Aranaut.

"A very, very bad dream-or memory! I've got to go back!"

"Woah, are you sure that's a great idea, buddy?" Asked Dan.

Shun realized suddenly that wasn't alone.

Dan and Jake were standing there, arms folded, looking very worried, and slightly confused.

"Whats'-What's going on here, guys?" Asked Jake, looking somewhat scared.

"Yeah Shun, what's going on?" Asked Dan nervously. Shun answered, "If someone touches her head, they can go into her mind, and see what's going on in her head."

"She seemed less agitated when you did that." Says Aranaut. "She calmed down a lot."

"Should we come, too?" Asks Dan.

"I-I don't know. The dreams were terrifying. I only saw one." Replied Shun.

"Uh, okay. We'll try." Replied Dan and Jake.

Suddenly, Marucho and Ren burst in, saying, "We'll try too!"

"Were you guys eavesdropping?" Asks Dan, somewhat angrily.

"Calm down, Dan. That's not important right now. If we're all going to go, then we should go now!" Shun put his fingertips on Fabia's head, and the other Brawlers followed his lead.

'Serena! Hello? Anybody?' A young, beautiful girl, comes running into the throne room. 'Hello?'

'Hello, Princess.' A younger version of Gil appears, and Fabia gets ready to fight. While she's distracted, fighting Gil, Kazarina silently teleports behind the girl and electrocutes her, knocking her out.

As they teleport back to the ship, Fabia starts to mumble incoherently, but Kazarina shocks her, enough to silence her, but the pain wakes her up, and Fabia starts screaming.

Every time Kazarina shocks her, the power increases every time, until every time the electric device touches her, it leaves a blackened burn mark.

"Jeez! I can't believe Fabia had that happen to her!" Exclaims Dan.

"And it only gets worse from here." Shun quietly replies. "Huh!?"

They travel forward in time, about a day. Fabia is held by four electrical rings, two holding her hands, and two holding her feet.

Her normally purplish hued skin has been replaced by a much lighter color, almost white, and all over her body, there are blackened scorch marks.

She desperately needs medical attention.

Her spotless dress, made from the finest fabric, looks as though a wild animal attacked it, and her, making the beautiful fabric stained with blood, and she is unrecognizable as even a Neathian.

Her green eyes tremble, and her eyelids lift, staring straight at something with unmistakable terror.

They Brawlers realize that someone is walking towards her.

It turns out to be Ren, of all people. He comes toward her, seemingly shocked at the state of the beautiful princess. Linehalt jumps on his shoulder, also shocked.

Fabia opens her eyes completely, and move as far away from him as her bonds will allow.

As soon as she does so, however, the bonds electrocute her. Even her hair is smoking when she stops struggling.

Breathing heavily, the Neathian girl eyes Ren with distrust. He moves closer, and she starts-rather, she tries to scream, but her throat is too sore from the hours spent in agony. 'Sssshhhhhh! Shut up!'

And with that, Ren slaps her across the face. Tears well up in her eyes, but she, to her credit, refuses to let them fall.

She spits in his face, and with a final backhanded slap across the face from Ren, falls into blissful darkness.

The Brawlers turn to look at Ren, and are surprised to see him crying. "It's my fault she's suffering like this. I shouldn't have done that. I should have jumped out of the way myself, instead of her jumping in to save us. This is my fault."

"You're right. But I am also to blame. I should have noticed the poison creeping up on us. I wish there was something more I could do." Shun said sadly.

'Aranaut!' Fabia, now grown to her current age, calls.

'Aranaut, I'm so sorry! I am so stupid! How could I be so careless?'

Fabia had been battling against a Castle Knight for training, and had let Aranaut be severely injured, and he wouldn't come out of the ball he had enclosed himself in.

'Aranaut, you deserve much better than me. I'm so...so...disgusting! I let you get hurt! I should be better than this. I'm a terrible Princess, and a terrible person.'

Aranaut comes out of the ball form to find Fabia shivering.

'Princess, don't worry. I'm fine, just tired. You are a wonderful Princess, and an even better person.'

'How can you say that? You just took a terrible beating, and it's all my fault!' Fabia replies, as the temperature in the room drops.

'Princess, are you all right? You look cold. You look sick.'

'Aranaut, don't worry about me! You should be worrying about yourself. I don't deserve your kindness.'

'Princess, you do deserve my kindness.'

'Thanks to me, you are hurt! I'm so sorry.'

'It's all right.'

"Hey, what's going on? We're being pushed out of the memory!" Dan exclaimed.

Back in the hospital room, Commander Elright pulled the sleeping teens away from the bed as Fabia's heart started to beat faster and faster, going dangerously high, on the verge of having a massive heart attack.

"Elright, why did you do that?" Asked Shun, furious. "We were trying to help her!"

"Because, Princess Fabia is waking up!" The Commander replied.

With Aranaut hovering close to her face, the Princess slowly opened her eyes and sat up, to find more than two dozen people crammed into the room.

Brawlers, the Queen, Commander Elright, Linus, and many Castle Knights were there.

"Princess!" Aranaut nearly tackled her, almost knocking the already unstable Princess back to the bed.

"Hey, Aranaut."

"Princess, I-we were so worried!" Aranaut exclaimed. Fabia smiled.

"What the-Shun, Ren, did we get the documents?" Fabia asked worriedly.

"Calm down. You don't want to relapse, dear." The doctor warned.

"Yes, Fabia, we got them. More importantly, how are you feeling?" Shun asked, not able to keep a hint of anxiety out of his voice.

"I...am fine." Fabia glanced down, unable to meet his eyes.

"Fabia!" Queen Serena said.

"Are you...Castle Knights, please leave. Elright, Linus, Brawlers, please stay."

They did as she asked.

"What did you dream of?" This was asked hesitantly.

Queen Serena motioned for the others, except Aranaut, to back away a little bit.

"Did you dream of...our parents?" Fabia nodded, and hugged her sister, eyes bright with unshed tears.

"Princess Fabia needs her rest. Please leave quickly!" Said the bustling doctor.

The Brawlers said their goodbyes, and Queen Serena kissed her sister on the head.

Shun was last out the door, or he would have been, but Fabia sat up and tried to get up, but started to fall.

Shun appeared by her side and caught her.

"I'm so sorry." Said the Princess.

She started to cry, and Shun, alarmed, and asked "What hurts?".

Fabia mumbled something incoherent, and Shun asked "What was that?"

Fabia replied, "My...heart. It hurts."

She had tears running down her face, something Shun never expected to see.

To say he was shocked that the tough ninja he usually knew opened up completely would be an understatement.

He hesitantly gathered her up in his arms, not sure if that would be okay.

It...felt right.

She just cried harder, and threw herself more into his arms.

"You saw, didn't you? You saw what I was seeing. I'm sorry." Fabia said, after she had calmed down a little bit.

"Fabia, don't be sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry. I should have jumped out of the way. I'm sorry that all happened to you."

Shun started to shake with anger. "I'll kill them! You-how could they hurt you, of all people!"

"Shun, please, don't...I'm so...tired..." And with that, Fabia fainted dead away.

But in her sleep she murmured "No more...alone...please! Nooooo...no more being alone."

Shun, torn, decided he could stay, at least for a while.

While she had been asleep, poisoned, for an entire week, he just hadn't been the same. He didn't sleep, wouldn't eat or drink until the Brawlers forced him too. He had realized something. He couldn't lose her. "I'll stay. I'll never leave...don't worry." Shun said softly. Suddenly he gave a start. Aranaut had been watching him carefully. Shun hadn't realized that he and Fabia weren't alone. The Bakugan looked at him with a smirk on his face.

"You know, the Princess likes you. She thinks very highly of you." The Bakugan said.

Hawktor chipped in: "And you like her! Perfect."

Aranaut said "Be careful with her. Although she may seem strong as a rock, she does have feelings. She is still very upset over Jin's death. She may feel that she's trying to replace him, and she will feel terrible. You must care for her as though she is a piece of china, very valuable, and very breakable. Her parents were murdered in front of her eyes when she was still very young, and impressionable. So much destruction at an early age...it is a miracle she turned out the way she did, instead of a monster. If you hurt her, I will make sure you pay dearly, in blood, got it?"

Shun shivered slightly. Even tiny, the Castle Knight Bakugan was powerful.

"Of course. I would never dream of hurting her. She so...perfect. I'm so lucky to be even in her presence."

Aranaut chuckled lightly. "That's exactly what Jin said before he proposed to her."

With that, the Haos Bakugan went to sleep on Fabia's shoulder, while Hawktor sleepily went around in circles, until Shun caught him, and put him in his pocket.

"Night, Shun." "Good night, Hawktor."

Shun woke up with a start, staring into the face of Dan.

"Uh, Shun? You okay?" Dan asked.

"Wh-where am I?" Asked Shun.

"Well, apparently you slept in the hospital room-in Fabia's hospital room...Huh...Ah-HAH! You like Fabia, don't you?"

"Don't say anything." Replied Shun with a sullen face.

"Oh, sorry, man, I-" Dan was cut off short by Shun tackling him, laughing.

"Oh, real funny!" Dan exclaimed, laughing as well.

Fabia started to mumble, and Shun went to her side.

Holding her hand didn't seem to be working, so he picked her up as though she weighed nothing, and put her head on his lap, stroking her hair.

That seemed to calm her down a bit.

Suddenly, she woke up, screaming, and crying out.

"What's wrong?" Shun asked, panicked.

"Just...Just a bad dream, sorry.." Fabia replied, shaking.

"I'll leave you guys alone...Oh, and Shun?" Said Dan.

"Yeah?" "I won't say anything, 'kay buddy?"

"Sure. Thanks, Dan."

As soon as he left, Fabia started to cry, obviously terrified of something.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"I-I dreamt that I killed you.

I-I hunted you down and I...I...killed you! I'm such a terrible person!" Fabia cried.

"Shhhhhh, no you're not. You're perfect. I...I love you, Fabia."

Fabia stopped crying, a little taken aback.

"I'm sorry. I know, it's stupid to think that someone as cool and smart and graceful as you could ever like someone like me..."

Shun was silenced by her kissing him.

He responded back, carefully, so as not to hurt her many cuts and bruises.

"You're perfect, and I...I love you too, Shun."


	2. Chapter 2

(A few weeks later)

"Shun and Princess Fabia will be going into the Neathian jungle. Remember, while the Neathian jungle is dangerous in summertime, it is absolutely deadly in the wintertime. There is a very good chance you might not make it back. Princess, are you sure?" Commander Elright asked nervously. It wasn't every day you asked a princess to go out on what could be a suicide mission.

"Of course!" Fabia told him. "I won't send people out to do things I wouldn't do myself!"

She was referring to Jin's death. He had been sent out on a suicide mission, quite like this one, except he had never returned. In one cruel twist of fate, he died because of the very attribute he brawled with, and broke Fabia's heart.

(a few hours later)

"So...how are you today?" Shun asked awkwardly, trying to break the all-consuming silence that lay between the two of them.

"Fine, how are you?"

"I'm fine, too. Thanks for asking."

(Another hour passes)

"Hey, Fabia?" Shun asks.

"Yes?" She replies, startled by the sudden break in the silence.

"Why did you like Jin? I mean, what qualities does-did he have?" Shun asks her, peeking out of one eye to determine her reaction.

"I-Umm-Well, he was brave...kind...intelligent..." With each syllable her voice became more and more choked up.

"And?" Shun prompted, curious to know her reaction.

"And-And it's none of your business! I live every day, trying not to remember that the person I loved is gone, and here you are, reminding me! I'll tell you what! I don't need someone's pity, and I don't want it! You should know what it's like." Fabia exploded, shocking Shun. He had never expected her to react this way-instantly he was mortified. Had he really just blown their friendship just because he wanted to know something that was none of his business?

"Fabia, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked that, I'm really sorry." Shun quickly apologized.

"Hmph..." And with that, the silence that had threatened to envelop them suddenly overtook them, driving a wedge between the two. A wedge, Shun feared, that could never be taken out.

(One hour later)

"Fabia?" Shun asked, trying to keep the quaver out of his voice.

"What?" Fabia asked sharply.

"I'm sorry." Shun told her softly.

"Good." Shun wasn't expecting this for an answer. He had been expecting some sort of acknowledgement of his apology, not...this.

"Why do you insist on making me feel terrible!" Shun shouted, a rare moment of emotions exploding out of him.

"Sssssshhhhhh! You'll start an avalanche!" Fabia told him.

"No! Answer me!" Shun yelled at the top of his lungs, frustrated.

A low rumble began in the distance, picking up speed. Unaware of the danger, the two teenagers pressed on, arguing.

"It's none of your business!" Fabia had started to shout as well now. She had finally lost her patience.

"I told you I loved you, a-and you told you loved me too. So, why are we not together?" Shun asked, then drew his breath sharply in. He hadn't meant to ask that question out loud.

"Huh?" Fabia turned to face him, furious. "This is what it's all about?"

"Yes." Shun answered, all his fire gone.

"You want to know why we're not together?" Asked Fabia.

"Yes." Shun replied quietly.

"Well, the reason we're not 'together', as you so eloquently put it, is because I'm no good! You deserve much better than me. I thought you knew that." With each word, Fabia advanced closer to him, until their noses were nearly touching.

"No good?" Shun asked, shocked.

"Yes!" Fabia told him, eyes bright with unshed tears.

What had started as a low rumble now turned into a deafening roar. The avalanche had started, and it was unforgiving.

Before Shun had time to say anything else, Fabia screamed, "Watch out!" and pushed him out of the way of the avalanche, throwing Aranaut to him right before the avalanche completely buried her.

"Fabia!" "Princess!" Shun and Aranaut shouted in unison.

Shun immediately jumped onto the snow pile, careful not to step on loose snow that could bury him as well.

"Fabia! Where are you! Answer me, please!" Shun started to search the enormous snow mound, desperately trying to get to her before she either ran out of air or froze to death. Neither would be a very pleasant death.

Twenty minutes passed. Shun hadn't found her, and he was beginning to lose hope that he would find her. "Fabia! No! You can't take her! Not now!" Shun screamed to the sky, tears running down his face.

Apparently the sky had ears.

"Sh-Shun..." A weak voice came from five feet in front of him.

"Fabia?" Shun couldn't keep the desperation from his voice.

He started to dig once again, not stopping until he found her, buried under ten feet of snow, with no oxygen left for her to breathe. She was unconscious when he found her.

He carried her to a nearby cave, and lit a fire, with the two Bakugan gathering flammable material to keep the fire going. With a small hatchet he found in Fabia's pack, Shun cut down several small trees for firewood. When he had a large fire roaring, he turned his attention to Fabia. She was shivering.

"Fabia?" Shun asked gently.

"Y-y-yes?" Fabia weakly replied, shaking.

"You are the best for me. I couldn't do any better than you. You are perfect."

"N-n-n-noo, I'm n-n-not." Fabia weakly insisted.

Shun went over to her, seeing as she was shivering and one blanket wasn't going to help her warm up. He put her on his lap, hugging her and rubbing her arms to warm her up.

"Aahhh." Fabia sighed-the warmth felt good.

"Hello? Princess Fabia, are you there?" It was Commander Elright. "Princess, there's been a huge avalanche in your area. You need to get out of there now! Princess?" Fabia's communication device was on the other side of the cave.

Fabia started to crawl over to the device, then collapsed, seizing. Shun jumped picked her up, waiting for her to stop seizing, then picked up the communicator.

"Commander Elright, Fabia survived through the avalanche, but she's having a seizure! Why? What do I do?"

"What!? She was buried beneath all that snow!?" Commander Elright shouted.

"Yes!" Shun replied back loudly.

"Well, when Neathians are more sensitive to the cold and when they get too cold, their body will have seizures, trying to get blood circulation, to make them warm up. Unfortunately, that's a last resort, trying to get them warm enough to have a somewhat comfortable death."

"So, that means..." Shun unconsciously hugged Fabia closer to his body.

"Yes. The Princess is dying."

"No! She won't die!" Shun was furious now. To give him his love, only to take it away again, was simply too cruel.

"You must not let her fall asleep. If she falls asleep now, she may very well not wake up ever again." Commander Elright was talking to him now. "I'm going to send an emergency helicopter to your coordinates.

"Of course! Shun out." Shun picked up Fabia and hugged her even closer this time. "You can't fall asleep."

"But...I'm so tired..." Fabia started to drift off, and Shun shook her roughly.

"Hey!..." Fabia said weakly.

"I'm sorry, but you can't fall asleep. If you do..." Shun swallowed, not wanting to tell her the awful truth.

"If I do...what?" Fabia asked him.

"You-"

"I, what?" Fabia was frustrated with the lack of an answer.

"You die."

"Oh..." Fabia started to cough violently.

Shun, terrified of losing her, pounded her back repeatedly until Fabia said, "Ow!"

"Sorry."

"It's...fine..." Fabia started to fall asleep, but when she did, it was Aranaut who woke her up this time, not Shun.

"Princess!" Aranaut roared."You will not fall asleep right now!"

"A-Aranaut?" Fabia sleepily asked.

"No! No falling asleep!" Aranaut told her.

"F-Fine..." Fabia mumbled something about stubborn Bakugan and pig-headed humans, and Shun smiled.

All of a sudden, the sound of a helicopter touching down could be heard. Five Castle Knights, and the Brawlers ran in, worried.

"Is she okay?" "What happened?" "Is she alive?" "Shun, why aren't you saying anything?" The Brawlers started shouting.

"Because you haven't given me a chance to speak. She was buried in an avalanche that I accidentally caused by shouting, and pushed me out of the way. She's alive, and barely awake. Hey!" Shun cut off abruptly, flipping the two Castle Knights who tried to put something on his hands.

"For causing her royal highness to nearly die, you are hereby sentenced to treason! The sentence is a life in prison. Get moving!" A Castle Knight shouted.

"N-n-nooooooooo!" Fabia shouted.

All eyes turned to her as she struggled to stand up. She nearly fell, but was picked up by Jake. She shot him a grateful look as she began to talk.

"The charges are on false pretenses. It is true that an avalanche fell on top of me, but Shun didn't cause it. I did! I pushed him out of the way, yes, but because if he had died, I would never have been able to forgive myself!" Fabia yelled at the Castle Knights.

"Of course, your Highness. We apologize." All of the Castle Knights bowed and saluted to show their sincerest apologies.

"Better...late than..." Fabia fainted, and reverted into her Neathian form.

All eyes were on her. She was pretty, no, beautiful, no, gorgeous and radiant as the sun. All of the Brawlers, even though they knew this wasn't the best time, drooled. Jake blushed and almost tripped over a stone in the path.

"Woah..." Dan said. Shun had to agree with him. The Princess was beautiful in her human form, but even then she couldn't hold a candle to her Neathian form. Even in her ragged clothing she was gorgeous.

"Ahem..." The Brawlers turned to see that the helicopter was right in front of them. Jake carefully stepped in, minding Fabia's legs, and laid her down gently. Even Ren, who had once been her enemy, stared at her.

Shun stepped forward, and brushed her cheek with his hand lovingly. He was vaguely aware of the rest of the Brawlers leaving the room and closing the curtain behind them.

Shun pulled Fabia onto his lap, resting his head on hers. She was shivering, so he wrapped a thick blanket around the both of them.

They arrived at the Royal Palace, and Fabia was taken off for immediate medical attention.

"Fabia!" Shun yelled, struggling against the doctors who were dragging him to the infirmary to be checked over.

"Shun, calm down!" Linus told him.

"No! I...need to see her, make sure she's okay!" Shun shouted at him.

"I really didn't want to do this..." Linus muttered.

"Do whaaaaaa..." Shun said, before he felt the pinprick of a needle delivering a powerful sedative.

He tried to run toward the direction they had taken Fabia, but darkness overtook him and he slumped over, as the blackness overcame him...


	3. Chapter 3

When Shun woke up, the first thing he saw was the Brawler's concerned faces peering down at him anxiously.

"I-Uh, what...just happened?" Shun asked. His head pounded.

The Brawlers looked at each other nervously. They shoved Dan forward, and Dan almost fell on top of Shun's bed.

"Uhhhhh...Well, you and Fabia were rescued from the avalanche, she was taken away for medical treatment, and you went all Kung-Fu crazy on us." Dan told him, rather quickly.

"Fabia!" Shun shot out of the bed, and would have fallen if Dan hadn't caught him in time. 

"Woah there, dude. You don't want to get up yet. You'll hurt yourself!" Jake said.

"I...I..." Shun looked down.

"We get it, man. You need to go see the love of your life to make sure your head doesn't explode." Dan laughed.

"I-Hey!-Uhhhh, thanks, guys." Shun told them.

With Dan and Jake supporting him, Shun slowly limped down the hallway to Fabia's room.

Fabia was in the room, looking even more beautiful than the night before-except for one thing; her eyes were shut, her breathing too even to be normal.

"Wha-What's wrong with her?" Shun's voice quavered, but he managed to keep it together long enough to hear the answer.

"They put her in a medically-induced coma." Ren answered softly, and Shun had to strain to hear it.

"The only problem is, she should have woken up by now." Commander Elright had arrived with Linus.

"How long have I been out for?" Shun asked.

"Oh, about two weeks. The doctors had to treat you for a very badly twisted ankle, hypothermia, a small case of pneumonia, and shock, so they put you in a coma, too."

"What!? So, she might never wake up?" Shun demanded, waiting impatiently for the answer.

"Yes."

Shun's knees went weak, and he found himself being caught by Dan and sat in a chair.

They all left him alone, except Aranaut, and he began to cry. Shoulders shaking, he sat next to Fabia's bed, and picked up her hand, pressing it to his lips softly.

Aranaut nuzzled into the side of her neck, where he usually slept.

"A-Aranaut? Shun?" A weak voice asked, as the girl slowly and unsteadily sat up.

"Fabia!" Shun jumped on top of her, hugging her tightly, while Aranaut went in circles around them. Shun accidentally knocked her down, but quickly regained his composure and sat next to her on the bed.

Fabia caught Aranaut and kissed him-a sisterly kiss. The Castle Knight Bakugan blushed red as he, too, tried to regain his composure.

Fabia reached toward the numerous IV's piercing her skin, giving her vital nutrients to help keep her alive as she slept. As she tried to pull one out, Shun caught her hand and said to her, "Fabia? Keep those in."

"I'm perfectly fine." She replied, shivering.

"Are you all right?" "You look sick, Princess." Shun and Aranaut said simultaneously.

"I'm...fine...Brrr!" Fabia shook like a leaf.

"Just to be expected. After such a long period of time where your body perfectly regulates your body temperature, it's to be expected that different temperatures can make you much warmer or colder than it seems to other people." Commander Elright strolled in to check on Fabia.

"How are you feeling, Princess Fabia?"

"F-f-fine." She replied, teeth chattering.

"Nurse? May we please have heated blankets brought for the Princess?" Commander Elright called out.

"Of course, Ely-poo!" The nurse called out, as Elright winced.

Fabia and Shun looked at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Ely-poo?" "What was that about?"

Elright blushed, then muttered, "Her name's Mary. She's my girlfriend. Hanging around your hospital bed, Princess, had me meet her."

"Ok, we'll stop." Fabia couldn't stop laughing however, and a small smile was brought to both Shun and Elright's face. Elright, because he was almost brotherly to Fabia-he knew what the poor kid went through, and Shun because he was absolutely mesmerized by her, and very nearly idolized her.

Commander Elright left, his usually blue skin replaced by a now rather beet-red complexion.

As soon as he left, Fabia looked at Shun and Aranaut, and started to cry silently. "What's wrong?" "What ails you, Princess?"

"I was-I am a terrible person. I loved Jin with all my heart, and promised to be faithful to him, but love you, Shun. How can I possibly break my promise? I'm sorry, Shun." Fabia looked as miserable as Shun had ever seen her.

She turned and buried her face in the pillows, reverting to her human form now. Apparently she felt more secure when she was addressing humans as a human, less of a 'freak'.

"Fabia..."

"I'm sorry. I just can't!"

"Fabia, you don't need to break your promise to Jin.

"Huh?"

"Princess, he's right. Jin loved you more than anything and I'm sure you loved him the same way. He told me once that he knew his honored position could lead him into danger. He told me that if anything happened to him, I should tell you that he loves you and that he wants you to move on and be happy." Aranaut told her quietly.

"Really? I-I don't know what to say. I miss him so much, but I love you, Shun." Fabia replied, tears streaking down her face.

"Then don't say anything." Shun smiled at her.

He kissed her and she was quick to respond. Finally, they broke apart and Fabia smiled up at him. Shun's breath caught in his throat. She had reverted back to Neathian form while they were kissing, and she looked....incredible.

Her green eyes sparkled like some indescribable gem-like the most beautiful emerald ever, a million times over. Her skin was soft and a beautiful shade of purple...


	4. Chapter 4

Shun smiled Watching her sleep peacefully, Shun carefully laid her down on the bed, and covered her with the thick comforter.

On a sudden impulse, he bent down and kissed her forehead, and she smiled in her sleep. He nodded to Aranaut, and turned off the light.

"Good night, Aranaut."

"Good night, Shun. Sleep well."

Shun crawled into bed, exhausted, and slept very peacefully and deeply. Until..."Shun!"

"What?" Shun asked, somewhat irritably.

"I-I failed her." Aranaut came into the room, looking terrible.

"What!" Shun bolted upright, knocking a picture frame of him and Fabia to the floor. As he stared at the broken glass, Shun felt his heart go into overtime.

"I-I failed her...again." Aranaut kept mumbling to himself.

"Aranaut, what happened?" Shun asked quietly, trying not to frighten the Bakugan. Shun had had several experiences with wounded animals, and he found that humans and Bakugan tended to react the same way-biting and scratching when they were cornered.

"I-I-They-Fabia-gone-failure-bad-stupid..." Aranaut couldn't seem to stop it.

"Aranaut, ssshhh! It's okay. Calm down. Take a deep breath, okay?" Shun carefully walked toward the Bakugan and carried him into the dining hall, where all the Brawlers, Commander Elright, and Linus were sitting, laughing and talking and eating breakfast.

"Uh, guys?" Shun cleared his throat. Immediately all of the Brawlers stood up and came to say good morning.

"Morning, buddy!" Dan shouted loudly.

"Ummmm, can someone help me here?" Shun opened his hand, and all the Brawlers saw Aranaut sitting there, just mumbling to himself over and over again.

"Aranaut, what's wrong?" Asked Drago.

"I-Fabia-taken-gone-failed-bad-Jin-gone..." Aranaut mumbled.

"Huh?" Dan said.

"He looks like he's in shock!" Ren said, surprised. The Castle Knight Bakugan never seemed to be scared or surprised, let alone a mumbling mess.

"Ssshhhh, what's wrong, Aranaut? Calm down, it's okay. You can tell us. We won't hurt you." Drago went up to the Bakugan and tried to calm him down.

"F-F-Fabia! Gone! Gundalians! Take! Failure!" Aranaut shouted, startling the Pyrus Bakugan, then curled up in ball form as tight as he could.

"Fabia? Fabia!" Shouted Shun. He began running to her hospital room as fast her could, Aranaut tucked into his pocket.

When he got there, all that remained of the bed where she had been sleeping was a couple of scorched blankets and twisted metal casings. In the midst of all that, a piece of paper with writing on it floated in the midst of a green bubble.

Shun sank to his knees. "She's...gone.", he whispered, shocked.

"What happened?" Commander Elright ran into the room, the rest of the Brawlers on his heels.

"Shun! You okay, buddy?" Dan shook him roughly, and Shun snapped out of it, shaking his head.

"They-they took her." He whispered.

"What's this?" Elright had discovered the bubble. He cautiously reached inside of the bubble, taking the piece of paper out so fast one would think his hand was on fire. Immediately, the bubble disappeared.

'Dear Brawlers,

I took your precious Princess Fabia. Poor girl didn't know what hit her. I've always wanted to know what the inside of a Neathian looks like! If you want her back...well, you're going to have to give me Dan and Drago, Shun and Hawktor, and Commander Elright. Oh, and the Queen must publicly admit that the Gundalians will win the war. Have fun! You have one month to decide, or your little Princess turns into a science experiment!

-Kazarina.'

Commander Elright read, his voice shaking. "Queen Serena is not going to be happy."

"Well, neither am I!" yelled Shun.

They all looked at Shun-even Aranaut, who came out of his ball form to look at Shun and backed away from him, bumping into Hawktor. The usually stone-silent, polite, modest, and strong ninja they knew was nowhere to be found. In his place was a furious, upset and very dangerous beast.

"Dude, chill out. You can't help her if you can't help yourself." Dan told him, being very careful to say it calmly.

"I-I-Okay. I'm sorry." Shun took a deep breath and stood up, Dan steadying him. "I'm sorry, Aranaut."

Without a word, the Haos Bakugan closed himself up again, and flew towards Shun.

"Aranaut, please come out. We need your help! We won't hurt you, we just want to talk!" Shouted Hawktor. The two Bakugan had become good friends since Fabia and Shun were paired together so often.

The Bakugan had flown off to let the humans and Neathians talk; now it was their turn to help. They needed to find Aranaut, and get the full story out of him. It was obvious that he was terrified, and therefore could be dangerous. They didn't really think Aranaut would try to hurt them, but he was a powerful Bakugan and so they tried not to corner him.

"Aranaut!" Shouted Drago. "We need to know what happened!"

After searching all over the Royal Palace, the Bakugan were about to give up when Awkwimos had an idea. "Hey, if I was scared, I would go somewhere I knew really well. Maybe Aranaut's in Fabia's room!"

"Let's go, then." Said Coredom.

When they came in, the lights were on. There was no sign of Aranaut, however. The five Bakugan flew around the room, trying to find him.

Finally, Hawktor decided to check next to Fabia's bed, where there was several pictures and a couple of small jewelry boxes. Next to a picture of Fabia, Jin, and him, they found Aranaut, curled up tightly.

"Aranaut?" Hawktor said softly, trying not to scare him any more.

"W-What? F-Fabia-gone-no-failed-failure." Muttered the frightened Bakugan. He slowly uncurled himself until he faced Hawktor and Drago, who had flown down, after motioning to the others to stay where they were, and not crowd Aranaut.

"No...You're not a failure. It wasn't your fault she was captured." At the word 'captured', Aranaut blanched and started to fly towards the door, but was blocked by Coredom and Linehalt.

"I-I need to talk t-to S-S-Shun..." Said Aranaut shakily. Flanked by Linehalt and Hawktor, the Haos Bakugan slowly flew towards the dining hall.

The Brawlers were talking when Aranaut came in.

"Sh-Shun! I need to talk to you." Said Aranaut.

"Okay." Shun replied.

The rest of the Brawlers and Bakugan except Hawtor left them alone.

"Aranaut-Are you okay?" Shun asked carefully, not wanting to scare off Aranaut.

"I-am fine. The-the Princess. I-I-I failed her, again. I-need to save her. Can you...help me?" The Bakugan choked out.

Shun nearly did a spit-take. The proud Castle Knight Bakugan, asking for...help? That just blew his mind. Aranaut was humble, but he hated asking for help-much like the Princess.

Hawktor quite literally dropped out of the air, but regained flight millimeters above the ground.

"Of course, Aranaut! I love Fabia more than anything, and I was going to leave tonight, without the rest of the Brawlers knowing, but I would be happy to have you along."

"It is my great honor to serve as your temporary guard." Aranaut said, bowing to both Shun and Hawktor.

"The honor is all mine." Shun smiled.

All three heads bent together as they started to make out the finer details of their rescue mission.

That night, three shadows slipped out of the Royal Palace, using the transporter room, by way of knockout gas, effectively silencing the guards who guarded the room.

As the three shadows approached Emperor Barodius's castle, the largest one knocked out a guard and put on his suit, placing the Bakugan into the helmet.

One guard approached Shun just as he was suited up, causing him to jump, then immediately salute.

The guard nodded, and went on his way.

"Phew. That was close." Muttered Shun.

"What'd you say, scumbag?" The guard had heard him mutter to himself.

"I-Me? I said, 'Hail Emperor Barodius!'" Shun quickly said.

"Oh. Okay. Go on your way, soldier." The guard said.

"Yes, sir!" Shun saluted, then walked off, trying not to run.


	5. Chapter 5

Shun walked until he found Kazarina's lab. It was surprisingly simple, with a lack of any signs of cannibalism. 'Guess I owe Dan twenty bucks!' Thought Shun.

The most horrifying thing in there weren't the shells of the now-deceased Bakugan, or even a skeleton which looked as if it were screaming. No, the most horrifying thing by far was the young girl being electrocuted right in front of him. Every minute, as soon as she caught her breath, the device would shock Fabia again and again, until she stopped squirming.

Breathing heavily, the young Neathian princess opened her eyes, full of terror and hate and a thousand other emotions Shun couldn't even name. When she saw Shun, her eyes filled up. Seeing Aranaut come out of hiding made her widen her eyes, then close them again tightly when the electric bonds shocked her unmercifully.

"..." The Princess gritted her teeth together, refusing to let a single tear or sound escape her pale lips. It was her only and final form of fighting.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of there!" Shun told her.

"No...get...ou...out...!" Fabia said, barely able to move her lips to speak.

"Princess, did you really think that we would leave you to be murdered by Kazarina? Never! I'm sorry for failing you. I-you deserve to have the best. I am obviously not the best. Princess, I am sorry." Aranaut told her, voice shaking. He nuzzled into her neck before flying himself into the machine Shun had been studying carefully, destroying it and releasing Fabia, who fell forward and would have fallen onto the ground if Shun hadn't caught her and helped her up.

"Th...Thanks...I..." Fabia's speech became noticeably slower as she fainted. Her breathing slowed down as well...too slow, and Shun shook her gently.

"Huh?..." Fabia whispered.

"Fabia, you have to remember to breathe, okay?" Shun asked her gently.

"Ok..." A sudden tremor racked her body, and Shun gently slid to the floor, Fabia still in his arms.

"Ummm, is that supposed to happen?" Asked Hawktor, worried for both ninjas.

"No! The electrocutions-they were too strong! They were the level I took when I was here-far too strong for a Neathian, human, or anyone! She shouldn't be alive! Sh-She-The Princess will die if she doesn't get medical attention immediately, Shun!" Aranaut yelled, then started to pace, glowing a faint yellow that grew brighter and brighter as he got more and more upset.

Fabia seemed connected to his emotions-suddenly, she woke up, and said, "Ssshhhhh, Aranaut...It's...going to be...okay...calm...down..."

As the Bakugan calmed down and the glow subsided, the Princess fainted once more.

"Oh, Fabia.." Shun looked down at her.

Her hair fell softly over one eye. Her lips trembled, and her eyelids fluttered.

"Shun! If the Princess is to live, then we must leave, NOW! Let's go!" Aranaut yelled, already racing for the door, Shun and Hawktor on his heels.

As they ran through the castle, Shun checked on the Princess. Her breathing was slowing down again, and he couldn't wake her up.

"Her breathing is slowing down!" Shun cried.

"She...Fabia! Princess! Wake up!" Aranaut shouted.

"Huh?...Ar...Aranuat...Hurts...t...to...breathe...talk...m...move..." Fabia said shuddering.

"Princess, I know it hurts. But you're strong. You will survive. You must breathe, or else you will die. We all need you. Please, Princess." Aranaut's tone was softer now, pleading with the Neathian princess to fight for her life.

"O...Ok...Aaa...Aaah!" Fabia cried out. Shun had accidentally jostled her, and every move burned like fire.

"Ssshhhh, Princess. We'll get you home safely, okay?" Aranaut asked her.

"O...ok..." Fabia answered.

"Not so fast!" A huge green shadow dropped suddenly in front of the two, causing Shun to fall back, clutching Fabia to him tightly.

"You're going to have to get through me, first!" Airzel was there with Strikeflier, ready to attack.

As Strikeflier picked them up, a voice came suddenly out of the shadows; "I wouldn't hurt them if I was you!"

Linehalt came flying out, with Ren on his shoulder, and blocked Strikeflier's other hand from crushing the two.

"Huh? What's this?" Airzel asked.

"Let's go, Drago!" Dan came jetting into the picture, on Drago's shoulder.

Strikeflier was distracted, and Lienhalt took the opportunity to push him back. The startled Bakugan reverted to ball form, and the Shun and Fabia dropped.

Shun closed his eyes, waiting for impact, but it never came. He opened his eyes to find that they were enclosed in some sort of yellow force field, protecting them from hitting the ground. Aranaut looked down at them, particularly Fabia, and said, "I may not have been able to save Fabia from Kazarina, but I can save her from this."

With that, Aranaut put them on his shoulder, and looked at the other Bakugan.

"Go!" Shouted Awkwimos.

"I've been itching for a fight for days!" Shouted Coredom.

Dan and Drago followed Aranaut out.

Hawktor was staying with Shun, and he came out of of ball form, stretching his wings, and was side-by-side with Aranaut.

"You mind if we go ahead?" Shouted Shun to Dan and Drago.

"Nope! We'll meet you there soon!" Shouted Dan.

"Hawktor! Let's go!" Yelled Shun. Hawktor quickly reverted back to ball form, falling down to Shun, who snatched him and yelled to Aranaut, "Let's go as fast as we can!"

Aranaut needed no more encouragement. He sped along, as fast as he could, around the speed of light, and Shun had to hold on as tight as he could to not fall off.

Shun was impressed. He never really thought about how hard it was to hold on to a Bakugan going at the speed of light. Fabia was pretty strong, to be able to stay on this fast.

Then he looked at her, and all feelings except sadness and anger and determination left.

"Aranaut! How are you doing?" Asked Shun.

"F-Fine!" Aranaut coughed.

"Aranaut, let me carry you guys now. You've been running too hard!" Yelled Hawktor.

Aranaut had been carrying them around the planet, which was pretty extensive, trying to get to the transporter the Neathians had secretly put on the planet, which would teleport them back to the Royal Palace. Only Neathians and humans could see the portal, though, to make sure no evil came through to Neathia.

Aranaut stopped, and Hawktor came out of ball form, catching Aranaut as he fell over. Shun jumped onto Hawktor's shoulder, and Aranaut reverted to ball form. Shun grabbed him out of midair, because Aranaut was too tired to even stay in the air without falling, something even baby Bakugans could do, right from when they were first born.

"You okay, Aranaut?" Shun asked, worried.

"I...Fine." And with that, the Bakugan fainted, so Shun put him in his pocket. It was the safest place for him at that point.

"Hawktor! You ready?" Shun shouted to his partner.

"You bet!" Said Hawktor.

They flew until Hawktor spotted the portal. He threw himself into it, not pausing to take a breath.


	6. Chapter 6

Shun walked until he found Kazarina's lab. It was surprisingly simple, with a lack of any signs of cannibalism. 'Guess I owe Dan twenty bucks!' Thought Shun.

The most horrifying thing in there weren't the shells of the now-deceased Bakugan, or even a skeleton which looked as if it were screaming. No, the most horrifying thing by far was the young girl being electrocuted right in front of him. Every minute, as soon as she caught her breath, the device would shock Fabia again and again, until she stopped squirming.

Breathing heavily, the young Neathian princess opened her eyes, full of terror and hate and a thousand other emotions Shun couldn't even name. When she saw Shun, her eyes filled up. Seeing Aranaut come out of hiding made her widen her eyes, then close them again tightly when the electric bonds shocked her unmercifully.

"..." The Princess gritted her teeth together, refusing to let a single tear or sound escape her pale lips. It was her only and final form of fighting.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of there!" Shun told her.

"No...get...ou...out...!" Fabia said, barely able to move her lips to speak.

"Princess, did you really think that we would leave you to be murdered by Kazarina? Never! I'm sorry for failing you. I-you deserve to have the best. I am obviously not the best. Princess, I am sorry." Aranaut told her, voice shaking. He nuzzled into her neck before flying himself into the machine Shun had been studying carefully, destroying it and releasing Fabia, who fell forward and would have fallen onto the ground if Shun hadn't caught her and helped her up.

"Th...Thanks...I..." Fabia's speech became noticeably slower as she fainted. Her breathing slowed down as well...too slow, and Shun shook her gently.

"Huh?..." Fabia whispered.

"Fabia, you have to remember to breathe, okay?" Shun asked her gently.

"Ok..." A sudden tremor racked her body, and Shun gently slid to the floor, Fabia still in his arms.

"Ummm, is that supposed to happen?" Asked Hawktor, worried for both ninjas.

"No! The electrocutions-they were too strong! They were the level I took when I was here-far too strong for a Neathian, human, or anyone! She shouldn't be alive! Sh-She-The Princess will die if she doesn't get medical attention immediately, Shun!" Aranaut yelled, then started to pace, glowing a faint yellow that grew brighter and brighter as he got more and more upset.

Fabia seemed connected to his emotions-suddenly, she woke up, and said, "Ssshhhhh, Aranaut...It's...going to be...okay...calm...down..."

As the Bakugan calmed down and the glow subsided, the Princess fainted once more.

"Oh, Fabia.." Shun looked down at her.

Her hair fell softly over one eye. Her lips trembled, and her eyelids fluttered.

"Shun! If the Princess is to live, then we must leave, NOW! Let's go!" Aranaut yelled, already racing for the door, Shun and Hawktor on his heels.

As they ran through the castle, Shun checked on the Princess. Her breathing was slowing down again, and he couldn't wake her up.

"Her breathing is slowing down!" Shun cried.

"She...Fabia! Princess! Wake up!" Aranaut shouted.

"Huh?...Ar...Aranuat...Hurts...t...to...breathe...talk...m...move..." Fabia said shuddering.

"Princess, I know it hurts. But you're strong. You will survive. You must breathe, or else you will die. We all need you. Please, Princess." Aranaut's tone was softer now, pleading with the Neathian princess to fight for her life.

"O...Ok...Aaa...Aaah!" Fabia cried out. Shun had accidentally jostled her, and every move burned like fire.

"Ssshhhh, Princess. We'll get you home safely, okay?" Aranaut asked her.

"O...ok..." Fabia answered.

"Not so fast!" A huge green shadow dropped suddenly in front of the two, causing Shun to fall back, clutching Fabia to him tightly.

"You're going to have to get through me, first!" Airzel was there with Strikeflier, ready to attack.

As Strikeflier picked them up, a voice came suddenly out of the shadows; "I wouldn't hurt them if I was you!"

Linehalt came flying out, with Ren on his shoulder, and blocked Strikeflier's other hand from crushing the two.

"Huh? What's this?" Airzel asked.

"Let's go, Drago!" Dan came jetting into the picture, on Drago's shoulder.

Strikeflier was distracted, and Lienhalt took the opportunity to push him back. The startled Bakugan reverted to ball form, and the Shun and Fabia dropped.

Shun closed his eyes, waiting for impact, but it never came. He opened his eyes to find that they were enclosed in some sort of yellow force field, protecting them from hitting the ground. Aranaut looked down at them, particularly Fabia, and said, "I may not have been able to save Fabia from Kazarina, but I can save her from this."

With that, Aranaut put them on his shoulder, and looked at the other Bakugan.

"Go!" Shouted Awkwimos.

"I've been itching for a fight for days!" Shouted Coredom.

Dan and Drago followed Aranaut out.

Hawktor was staying with Shun, and he came out of of ball form, stretching his wings, and was side-by-side with Aranaut.

"You mind if we go ahead?" Shouted Shun to Dan and Drago.

"Nope! We'll meet you there soon!" Shouted Dan.

"Hawktor! Let's go!" Yelled Shun. Hawktor quickly reverted back to ball form, falling down to Shun, who snatched him and yelled to Aranaut, "Let's go as fast as we can!"

Aranaut needed no more encouragement. He sped along, as fast as he could, around the speed of light, and Shun had to hold on as tight as he could to not fall off.

Shun was impressed. He never really thought about how hard it was to hold on to a Bakugan going at the speed of light. Fabia was pretty strong, to be able to stay on this fast.

Then he looked at her, and all feelings except sadness and anger and determination left.

"Aranaut! How are you doing?" Asked Shun.

"F-Fine!" Aranaut coughed.

"Aranaut, let me carry you guys now. You've been running too hard!" Yelled Hawktor.

Aranaut had been carrying them around the planet, which was pretty extensive, trying to get to the transporter the Neathians had secretly put on the planet, which would teleport them back to the Royal Palace. Only Neathians and humans could see the portal, though, to make sure no evil came through to Neathia.

Aranaut stopped, and Hawktor came out of ball form, catching Aranaut as he fell over. Shun jumped onto Hawktor's shoulder, and Aranaut reverted to ball form. Shun grabbed him out of midair, because Aranaut was too tired to even stay in the air without falling, something even baby Bakugans could do, right from when they were first born.

"You okay, Aranaut?" Shun asked, worried.

"I...Fine." And with that, the Bakugan fainted, so Shun put him in his pocket. It was the safest place for him at that point.

"Hawktor! You ready?" Shun shouted to his partner.

"You bet!" Said Hawktor.

They flew until Hawktor spotted the portal. He threw himself into it, not pausing to take a breath.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Shun woke, burning up. When he tried to get out of bed, he fell down onto the floor.

"Shun! Are you okay?" Asked Hawktor, worried.

"I'm...fine." Shun coughed weakly, trying to pull himself onto his bed.

"Let me get someone to help you, okay?" Hawktor started to fly towards the door, but Shun's voice stopped him.

"No, please...I'm fin-" Shun fainted as he tried to stand up straight.

Hawtor raced towards Fabia's room, screaming bloody murder as he went, Castle Knights staring at him all the way.

"Hawktor, what's wrong?" Aranaut asked.

He and Fabia had been eating breakfast, fresh fruit and milk.

"Shun-Shun..." Hawktor panted.

"Shun, what?" Asked Fabia, pulling on a robe, all ready to go to his room.

"Shun's fainted!" Hawktor shouted.

Fabia, without a word, started running as fast as she could-rather limping as fast as she could, towards his room.

Dan and Ren saw her trying to run, and asked what was wrong. When they heard what had happened, Ren picked her up, and, with Dan and Aranaut on his heels, raced towards Shun's room.

They found him on the floor, panting wildly. He was still unconscious, but his face was flushed, and, although it was only 50 degrees in the room, he was sweating.

Fabia pushed herself out of Ren's arms, and went to him.

"Shun! Wake up, Shun! Please!" Fabia was vaguely aware of Ren's arms enclosing her, trying to calm her down, make her less frantic. But it didn't work, and a Castle Knight guard gave her a shot filled with a short-term paralyzer. She could talk and breathe, but she didn't have any more strength than a baby.

"Please! No!" Fabia screamed, as she saw his chest stop rising and falling. "SHUN!"

Ren's face appeared, and said, "I'm sorry, Fabia. Please forgive me for this!"

As she was about to ask what, Ren pushed a spot on her neck, which made her black out. As the world darkened around her, she tried wildly to grasp onto something, anything.

The last thing she saw was Ren's scared face above her, mouthing the words, 'I'm so sorry!' to her, and the world closed around her.

When she woke up, she did so with a scream. "Shun! No! Please! He can't-He CAN'T die! Not now! Please!"

Fabia was hyperventilating. She curled up, hands on her knees, and started shaking, rocking back and forth as she cried.

The Brawlers, looking at her through an observation screen, turned away, terrified of the behavior their Princess was displaying. Usually cool and friendly, she looked utterly broken.

Dan slammed his hand on the table. "Why won't you let us see her or talk to her?" He demanded of Elright.

"Because, the Princess is very dangerous when she is in this state. After...Jin's...death, she took down twenty of our best Castle Knights without any problem. Anyone who tried was taken out of commission for six weeks!" Commander Elright replied, obviously frustrated.

"Did you try sending friends-people she knew well-in?" Ren asked thoughtfully.

"No, we couldn't risk losing the Queen or Linus." Elright replied.

"Let us try, dude! We know her, and we've got nothing to lose! You don't need two hands to brawl!" Jake said excitedly.

"Well..." Commander Elright looked down.

"Please, Commander Elright! At least let us try!" Marucho was talking now.

"Fine." He replied.


	8. Chapter 8

"Princess, I'm sure Shun is fine. Don't worry." Aranaut was trying to soothe her, to no avail. She kept rocking back and forth.

"Hey, Fabia!" Dan shouted.

Fabia flinched and hid behind her pillow, as if she thought they would hit her.

After a little consideration, it was decided Dan and Ren would go first, then slowly introduce more people.

"Dan, try not to frighten her any more!" Hissed Ren.

"Oh, sorry. Fabia, we just want to talk, okay?" Dan asked her cautiously.

"Shun-dead-gone-NO!" Fabia kept repeating to herself.

They took a step closer, and Fabia stopped talking to herself and glared.

Ren could have sworn he felt the blood in his veins turn to ice.

"G-Go Away!" Fabia rose up unsteadily, and nearly fell, but Ren caught and supported her.

Fabia screamed at the sight of him. Ren froze. "You-You hurt me! You-I-" She started babbling, terrified of him.

"Sssh, Fabia, I won't hurt you, okay? I promise that those days are over." Ren had tears in his eyes, a rarity.

Fabia calmed down enough to let Ren wrap his arms around her. She started sobbing into his open arms. "Shuuuuuunnnnnnnnn!" She wailed.

"Shhh, it'll be all right. Okay?" Ren soothed her.

"O-Shun! Jin! Dead! Gone! Can't lose another!" Fabia sobbed. Ren rubbed her back.

Dan stepped forward, and the wood creaked. Fabia shot up, and backed away from him, as far as Ren and her bed would allow her too.

"Fabia, it's me! It's Dan!" Fabia, scared and cornered, lashed out blindly, and managed to hurt herself in her desperate attempt to free herself, dislocating her shoulder.

Dan backed away from her. Fabia nursed her arm, until she looked straight at Dan and approached him catiously, like an injured animal. She fell, but Dan caught her.

Terrified, Fabia did an intricate series of flips and twists, twisting her ankle in the process, and jumped into the air vent above her bed.

"Princess, please calm down. Dan won't hurt you. He's here to help you." Aranaut tried to calm her down before she could hurt herself even more.

"Fabia, I promise. I won't hurt you. Okay?" Dan reached one hand out towards Fabia, and she flinched. But she slowly opened her eyes.

"D-Dan? R-Ren?" She asked, still scared.

"Yes! It's us!" Dan shouted happily.

Fabia became terrified again when Dan shouted, and jumped, hitting her head on the ceiling above her bed.

"Dan!" Ren hissed. "Be careful!"

"Oh, right. Sorry." Dan cautiously stepped forward to hug Fabia.

At first she tensed, then relaxed and allowed him to hug her.

"Hey, guys!" Marucho and Jake barged in, terrifying her.

Fabia's eyes did a sweep of the room; locating Jake as a threat, she flipped him over, then jumped back into the air vents.

"Ouch..." Jake moaned.

"She'll only trust me and Dan now!" Ren shouted angrily.

"Sorry." Marucho and Jake said, heads down.

After they left, Ren tried to coax her down from the vent.

"Fabia, I know you're scared and tired and hurt. But could you please come down?" Ren asked quietly.

"No!" She said stubbornly.

Ren looked at Dan, and Dan shrugged. "I don't know how to deal with a stubborn Princess."

As they coaxed her down, Dan became frustrated and started shouting, startling Fabia.

"Dan! Maybe it would be best if you left." Ren told him.

Dan walked out of the room, and Ren went back to coaxing Fabia down again.

"Please, Fabia. Please come on down now." Ren said quietly.

To his surprise, she slid down, and midway to the floor, she fainted, probably from exhaustion and pain.

He caught her in his arms, and laid her down on the bed. She looked flushed, and Ren realized that she had a fever.

"Princess." Aranaut said sadly.

"It's okay, Aranaut. She'll be okay." Said Linehalt to the Haos Bakugan.

Aranaut, in response, bowed his head.

"Ren! I am sending in Dan with supplies. By the looks of things, the Princess has a high fever, a twisted ankle, a dislocated shoulder, and a cut on her head. Do you know how to treat patients?" Said Elright.

"Yes. I learned how to when I was a child." Replied Ren.

"Good. Here comes Dan. We can't give her any more sedatives, because they need to be completely out of her system before another one, otherwise she might die." Commander Elright said, before closing off.

"Hey, Ren. How is she?" Asked Dan sheepishly.

He was embarrassed about how he had behaved earlier, and was eager to help Ren out, to help Fabia.

"Not good. It looks like she has a fever of 105.7 degrees." Ren said, checking the thermometer.

"Yikes!" Said Dan.

"Neathians can survive a fever of up to 120 degrees." Aranaut told them.

He didn't look so good, either.

"Hey, Aranaut? You look sick." Said Drago.

"Yeah! Maybe you should be checked over, too." Linehalt pitched in.

"No. I'm fine. The Princess matters more." Aranaut said, backing away from them.

"Aranaut are you su-" Drago was stopped mid-sentence by Linehalt catching the falling Aranaut.

"And...down he goes." Sighed Drago.

The two Bakugan brought Aranaut out to the rest of the Brawlers, who immediately took him to a Bakugan specialist.


	9. Chapter 9

"He looks like he's sustained injuries from battle, injuries that wouldn't have shown up until now. Aranaut is also exhausted. He needs rest, and plenty of it! You need to keep him from moving around too much. I can't believe the Princess didn't take care of him. She is usually extremely careful to check him over for injuries...Well, except for..." The lady said.

"Except for what?" Asked Jake.

"Well, except for when her fiancee, Commander Jin, died. After she rescued him, of course." She replied.

"Uh, she's not really capable of doing anything right now." Marucho said nervously.

"Oh! Did that Shun, the Ventus Brawler, die as well?" The lady asked, upset.

"No, but she thinks he did, and he might very well still die, so we don't want to give her false hope." Marucho told her.

"Be careful with her. She is not as strong as she appears. I know the Princess very well. She and Aranaut often come to me with injuries. I have had many conversations with her. Oh! I have more Castle Knight Bakugan to attend too. Goodbye!" The lady bustled off.

"O...K?" Said Akwimos.

"Fabia, you have to stay still!" Said Ren.

Ren was trying to pop her shoulder back into place, and he knew it hurt; he had dislocated his shoulder once before. She was still withdrawn and terrified, but she allowed only Ren to help her. Everyone else, except for Dan, she would flip over, then hide in the air vent, or behind her bed.

"Th-That H-Hurts!" Said Fabia quietly, shaking.

"I know it hurts, and I'm sorry. But if we don't put it back into place, it'll hurt even more! You must stay still, okay?" Ren told her gently.

"O-Okay." She replied quietly, still shaking like a leaf.

"Brawlers! Come here! We have just discovered that the poison gas, which Princess Fabia breathed in when she saved Shun and Ren hasn't completely left her system! The poison is still messing with her brain, terrifying her, and making her vulnerable. If we don't act soon, she will die!" Commander Elright yelled.

They had all gathered in a small conference room, a short distance away from the room Fabia was enclosed in. Ren had given her some medicine to help her sleep; he just hoped the sleep wouldn't do more harm than good. Her nightmares hadn't gone away, despite what she wanted the others to believe.

"She needs to see Shun, and know he's alive. Fabia is scared of me and Dan, and terrified of everyone else! She doesn't seem to realize she's injured until she faints from exhaustion and pain!" Shouted Ren in frustration.

"We can't do that. If Shun...dies...we'd be giving her false hope, and that would be more cruel than simply telling her he's dead." Said Marucho thoughtfully.

Dan hadn't said anything, but he was shaking from rage. Finally, he snapped, and shouted, "I don't care what you think! Fabia came to us for help, right after her fiancee, her best friend, died right in front of her eyes! She was brave just to make the trip to a strange world without any protection, and she was even braver to try to protect Aranaut from Jin's death. She saved Shun's and Ren's lives, and tried to protect us when all else failed. How can we call ourselves Brawlers, a family, if we don't try to help her when all she's done is help us?"

"Dan's right. I tortured Fabia when I was with Emperor Barodius, helped in the destruction of her friends, family, and planet, but yet she still accepted Linehalt and I when we had no place to go. She gave me a second chance, a chance to live among her people, to have friends, and maybe even a family. But, most of all, she gave me life. If Princess Fabia had refused to allow me on her planet, I would have been killed, either by Barodius, or by the crossfire. I owe her everything. I won't just sit here while she suffers!" Yelled Ren.

"Commander Elright, perhaps the Brawlers are right. My sister is very strong, but needs hope to keep her going. Otherwise, she will not fight for her life, and she will die. Do not let my sister die. Tell her, and show her, that Shun is alive." Queen Serena ordered Elright.

"Yes, Your Highness. Of course!" Commander Elright smartly saluted.

"Fabia. Wake up! Please, wake up!" Fabia woke up to someone shaking her. She immediately went into defense mode, flipping the person who shook her awake, but then fell over, because of her twisted ankle.

As the person walked toward her, Fabia tried to back away. She was obviously terrified. She was shaking so hard, she couldn't even move.

"Sssssh. It's okay. We're your friends, remember? We won't hurt you." The figure in front of her smiled, and turned out to be Ren.

Fabia tried to stand up, but immediately fell over, when she was caught by someone much bigger than Ren.

She started shaking again, and looked into the eyes of the person who had caught her. They were friendly, blue, and were accompanied by a big grin. It was Jake.

As she searched his eyes for any sign that he might hurt her, Jake stood still. He seemed to realize what she was doing, and didn't bother her.

Finally, she seemed to accept him as her friend once again, and relaxed a little bit more.

"J-Jake? Is that really you? Not the people from my dreams?" She asked, shivering.

"It's really me, Fabia. I promise I won't let anything hurt you, okay?" Jake may have been a newbie Brawler, but he still was the 'big-brother' on the team. He wanted to protect Fabia. She was so small, and seemingly so fragile.

"O-Ok. I believe you." Fabia said, looking up at him, exhausted. She had been having nightmares all night.

"Fabia, we have something to tell you. Something we should have told you a long time ago." Ren said slowly.

"W-What is I-It?" Asked Fabia nervously.

"Ummm, Shun is alive! He's not doing so hot, but he is alive, and...you're crying." Dan said uncomfortably.

Fabia stared into open space, tears racing down her cheeks, but she didn't even breathe.

"Princess Fabia! Snap out of it!" Shouted Marucho.

She gasped, and struggled to get out of Jake's arms. Fearful that she would hurt herself, Jake held her by the waist when she was set down.

"Y-You knew? You didn't tell me?" Fabia looked at Ren, betrayed. "H-How C-Could you d-do this t-to m-me?" She asked, now not even trusting Ren.

"I'm sorry, Fabia. I didn't want to keep it from you, but we also couldn't give you false hope!" Ren told her.

He was the only one who could touch her now without anyone being flipped.

"We'll bring you to him, if you like. But no hurting or flipping anyone, okay?" Ren asked.

"O-Okay." Fabia had the faintest hint of a smirk on her face, and the rest of the Brawlers started to realize what a huge mistake they had made, not telling her.

They also realized that their Fabia was starting to come back, replacing the violent, wild animal that had been in her place the last few days.

When she tried to walk, her face contorted with pain. It was just for a split second, then she went back to showing no weakness, but it was enough to show in how much pain she was in.

"Here. Let me." Ren let her lean on his shoulder; obviously, she was still Fabia and hated being 'weak', by having someone carry her.

"Thanks." She replied quietly.

When they reached Shun's room, Fabia delicately opened the door. With a shaking hand, she pulled it open, to discover the worst.

He wasn't dead. He was...gone.

"Oh no." Fabia whispered.


	10. Chapter 10

Before she could collapse, Ren caught her and pulled her close. She started to sob uncontrollably and shook with every breath she took in.

Ren looked sadly at Fabia, and hugged her tightly.

"Awwwww, man!" Dan shouted. He kicked around the remainders of the bed.

Fabia started to stand up, but fell, with Ren once again catching and steadying her.

"Th-The note." She said. Fabia tried walking towards it, but her legs wouldn't carry her anymore. Ren picked her up as easily as he would a baby, and carried her to it. The note was floating in a green bubble.

She reached up and grabbed the note; when she pulled her hand out of it, it gave her a nasty electrocution, and the pain was so intense that she fainted away, still clutching the note in her hands.

"Fabia, wake up! Fabia! FABIA!" Dan shouted.

Suddenly she gave a start and came to. The room was spinning wildly around her head as Jake set her on her feet again, only for her to collapse again.

"Here. Try this." Ren handed her a cup of something hot. She took a small sniff of it, and it smelled sweet and spicy, like spiced apple cider, which she had tried on Earth.

She took a sip of it, and almost instantly the dizziness stopped. It took her a while to get reoriented.

"You okay?" Ren asked her, sounding worried.

"Yes, thank you." She answered, the answer sounding almost automatic.

"The note!" Marucho said.

"Y-Yes, of course!" Fabia replied.

'Dear Brawlers,

How long did it take you to realize your needling ninja was gone? I see you took Fabia, and refused to play fair, on my terms. Fine. This time, I am prepared. In order to get your Shun and Hawktor back, you will have to go through a series of tests-but only one can do it. The rest of you will watch. If you win, you have Shun back. If you lose, Shun is mine, plus whoever fails the course!

Oh, and how did you like that little electrocution I added to the bubble? Pretty clever, is it not? Good luck! You have three days to decide who it will be.

Kazarina'

"No." Fabia whispered, knees becoming jelly once more.

"Easy there, Princess. It'll be okay, Fabia." Ren told her gently.

"No, it won't. Kazarina will make the tests impossible for anyone to win!" Fabia said.

She picked up the remainders of the metal bed frame and hurled it over her head, before it smashed into the wall, making a deep crater.

The rest of the Brawlers watched, wide-eyed. They had forgotten how strong she was.

After that display of fierce passion and anger, Fabia left the room, limping as fast as she could away from the rest of the Brawlers.

She was trying to get to her room, but when Ren's voice rang out, she turned and looked for the nearest unlocked door.

It was an old hospital bed room. She crawled under the bed after she turned the lights off, and waited there, sobbing quietly.

"Fabia? I know you're in there. The rest of the Brawlers are looking for you. Do you mind if I come in?" Ren asked, then waited patiently for an answer.

There was none. Ren opened the door, changing back to his Gundalian form, so he could see in the dark. There were some advantages of being the caretaker of the Darkus Bakugan.

Fabia sat beneath the bed, hoping he would just give up. She knew he wouldn't.

"I see you. Mind if I come in to talk?" Ren shook her from her thoughts and, startled, she tried to back away, but hit her head hard on the metal section.

"Sssh. It's okay. Calm down. Everything's going to be fine." Ren told her soothingly. "I'm going to come in, and talk to you, okay?"

Fabia didn't move a muscle. She was transformed into her Neathian body.

Ren tried to coax her out to no avail, so he instead crawled underneath the bed as well, sitting next to her.

Fabia stared at him, trying to figure out whether he could be trusted or not.

Then something Aranaut said to her came to mind.

'Ren and Linehalt turned their backs on Barodius. Perhaps we can trust them, like Dan said!'.

Then something Dan said came to mind.

'I know the Gundalians are total slime for all the bad things they've done, but you gotta believe me! Ren is different. Seriously, Fabia. He is.'

"Ren? I-I'm so sc-scared." Fabia said shakily.

"I know, Fabia. I know." Ren opened up his arms and Fabia hesitated for a moment before throwing herself into his arms, not crying, but just sleeping peacefully.

Ren must have fallen asleep when Fabia fell asleep too; next thing he knew, his BakuMeter was ringing.

Without disturbing the slumbering Fabia, Ren muted the thing and answered it. "Hello?" He whispered.

"Dude, where are you!? It's been eight hours!" Dan yelled.

"Sssssshhhhhhhh! Fabia is finally sleeping peacefully, and getting some rest. I must have fallen asleep as well. Sorry to worry you. Should I come out, and wake her up, or should I let her sleep?" Ren asked.

"No! Let the Princess sleep! She needs rest." Commander Elright whisper-yelled.

"Ok, no problem. Um, what time is it?" Asked Ren.

"It's 3:30 in the morning!" Dan said, surprised. He had to stifle a yawn.

"Go to sleep. Wake the Princess up when you wake up, okay, Ren?" Commander Elright told him.

"Sure. Good night." Ren said, yawning.

"Good night, Castle Knight." Commander Elright closed off the transmission.

Ren gave a start. Commander Elright had never called him anything but 'traitor', or 'scum', or 'Gundalian scum', or his name. He had certainly never called him, 'Castle Knight'. Maybe Elright really was warming up to him after all.

The thought made Ren smile, and he laid his head on top of Fabia's and fell asleep.

When he woke up in the morning, Fabia was staring at him. Ren jumped and hit his head.

"G-Good morning? How'd you sleep, Princess Fabia?" Asked Ren nervously.

She was in her Neathian form, and her eyes pierced Ren's very soul.

"Why?" She asked.

"Why, what? I'm afraid I don't understand." Replied Ren carefully.

"Why do you help me when I never was very important? Why do you help me when it doesn't matter if I am dead or alive? Why do you help me?" She asked suspiciously.

"Princess Fabia, if I may. You are extremely important to all of us. You are an amazing Brawler, a strong person, an incredible ninja, and I...well...I sort of feel like you're my sister. You've always helped all of us out, even when you felt miserable or sad. I wish that I could help you in the same way, but I can't. So, right now, I'm offering you a shoulder to lean on, cry on, and you can always talk to me, okay?"

Ren watched her face carefully while he was talking, trying to see whether or not she would accept his mini-speech.

"Ok." Fabia whispered. She sounded so broken, and Ren realized that her tough front had been completely shattered when Shun got hurt. He had been her stabilizer, her rock, just as Jin had been, and now he was gone. She had no one. Even her partner Bakugan was gone, still asleep, in a comatose state. No one knew why, but it obviously hit Fabia hard.

"Now. Let's say we get out of here and get some breakfast?" Asked Ren, and he heard his stomach growl. Loudly. Very loudly. The Darkus Brawler blushed, and started to crawl out from under the bed when Fabia's voice stopped him.

"Ren? You-You too. If you ever need anyone to talk to or to cry to, I'll always be here. Ummm, since you're staying here on Neathia, maybe you could...actually become...my brother? I fully trust you, and everything."

When Ren didn't say anything, and just stared at her, she immediately withdrew into protective mode.

She started to crawl out, avoiding Ren's eyes, reverting to human form, tears forming in her eyes.

He caught her wrist as they both crawled out, and hugged her tightly.

"I would love to be, Fabia. I promise I'll be the best brother you could ever have! Thanks you so much, Your Highness." Ren kneeled, and Fabia pulled him back up, laughing.

"Don't be silly! You already are!" Fabia laughed.

Ren tensed, hearing the unfamiliar sound of her laughter, then relaxed, and joined in, ecstatic that she was finally returning back to the Fabia everyone knew.

Strong, independent Fabia. Fabia with a will of steel. Fabia, who's bones were made out of iron, her heart and soul as one.

"Let's go!" Fabia tore through the doorway, running down the hallways, laughing.

Castle Knights armed themselves as she came, not used to hearing laughter, especially not the Princess's. They quickly relaxed as she went through, and started laughing as well.

Soon the entire castle was laughing. Her laughter was just too contagious. You couldn't be sad when you heard it. You simply couldn't.

"Princess Fabia? You're laughing!" Commander Elright said, stunned. She hadn't really laughed, maybe chuckled, but never truly laughed, since Jin died.

"Yes, I guess I am!" Fabia replied, still laughing hard.

All the Brawlers started to laugh too.

"Let's go!" Fabia said, suddenly serious.

"Go where?" Asked Dan, confused.

"We need to make Aranaut better, it's all my fault he's sick, and we need to go to Kazarina!" Fabia replied.

"Ummmmmm...Are you sure that's such a great idea?" Asked Marucho cautiously. "I mean, we all know we have to save Shun, but what if we don't have a good enough plan, and she catches us by surprise? Then what?" He said.

"Kazarina may be a thief, a murderer, and worse, but she won't lie, at least not when it can be proved on paper. She has a status as a celebrity in Gundalia, and she won't ruin it by being proved a liar, no matter how tempting the offer." Fabia said, voice laced with pain.

Ren wondered if she was remembering the day her life stopped. When Jin died. The Fabia that had come out of all this turmoil and suffering was of a new breed, one with courage to match two-hundred tigers, the strength of twelve angry lions, the brainpower of three-thousand men, and the speed of a falcon. She was stunning, and not afraid to use her power. Fabia was full of anger and hatred, which she directed towards those who deserved it. Strong yet kind, Smart and willful, Speed and hate. It was a deadly mixture.

Those who were her enemies would suffer. Everyone in that room knew in that moment, that Fabia would not be stopped until every enemy was taken down. She would not hesitate to turn on former allies, if they attacked her. She had no more patience left to give, and she needed to move.

Somehow, that was all in a conversation between the eyes of her, the Brawlers, Commander Elright, Linus, and all of the people of Neathia, who in their hearts could feel her pain. It was incredible, as if they and she were connected.

When she cried out with pain, people and animals all over the planet had an urge to help someone. When she was sad, they all comforted each other, calmed each other down, and shared hope. When she was happy, everyone rejoiced. Dogs and cats got along, as friends, people didn't fight, and would have huge parties celebrating being alive.

"We need to go. Commander Elright, please leave a private message for my sister. I'll type it in."

'Dearest Serena,

I might not make it back from this mission, and if I don't, that will mean I have successfully rescued Shun and the Brawlers. Please don't despair, big sister. I love you, and always will. I can't waste my life sitting in this Palace, dressing up in fancy clothing while my people suffer and are killed daily by these monsters. I know you will understand. Mom and Dad-They came to me, in a dream. They told me to tell you that when we die, we may choose who gets to go into the great planet above the skies. Our friends, our family! All of them! They told me that they were very proud of you, and that they loved both of us. I am so proud of you as well. I will miss you. Please take care of Aranaut and Shun for me. Tell Aranaut I love him. He is the best Bakugan I could have ever hoped for. I will truly miss him. Tell Shun I love him, and I always will. Tell him to move on, because he will find someone better than me, and he will be far happier with her than he would with me. I love all of you, remind the Brawlers of that. The Brawlers gave me hope. They gave me joy. I love you all. Goodbye.

Love,

Your Little Sister, Fabia.

P.S. Please tell Commander Elright and Linus it wasn't their faults. They couldn't have stopped me. They know that in their hearts. We all knew. I love you, Serena. Your Majesty. Good luck!'

As she finished typing, her hands began shaking. She handed the message to Elright, who closed and stamped it with the Royal Insignia, to be delivered to the Queen if she never returned alive.

As she finished typing, her hands began shaking. She handed the message to Elright, who closed and stamped it with the Royal Insignia, to be delivered to the Queen if she never returned alive.

Elright and Fabia looked at each other. He bowed deeply, and all of the Castle Knights followed his lead. When he stood back up, he was startled by Fabia's arms wrapping around him. He hugged her back, not used to hugging royalty.

When she let go, he smiled at her, and she smiled back. He said, "It has been an honor serving you, Princess Fabia."


	11. Chapter 11

Fabia walked to Linus and hugged him, too. Linus had nearly invisible tears in his eyes, as did everyone else.

"I will miss you, Princess Fabia. Good luck, and goodbye. Thank you for saving me all those years ago."

"I'll miss you too, Linus. We'll see each other some day, I hope. Goodbye. Thank you for helping me all these years."

"Of course."

Fabia stood back, cocking her head and smiling at them, tears unshed, and they knew then that it really might be for the last time.

The Castle Knights saluted as one, and bowed to the Brawlers, but most of all, to the Princess.

"Thank you, Castle Knights!" Fabia shouted, and she began to run towards the Bakugan Infirmary, the rest of the Brawlers right on her heels.

When they reached the infirmary, they peeked inside and found Aranaut pacing the room restlessly.

Fabia opened the door and said, "Hello? Is anybody there?"

"Coming!" The Bakugan specialist trilled.

As soon as Fabia stepped in the door, Aranaut lifted his head up and flew straight towards her, flying so fast he nearly knocked her over.

"Princess! Get me out of this place, I beg of you!" Aranaut nearly shouted.

"Why? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Fabia asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine. But that crazy lady wouldn't let me train, wouldn't let me even get out of this room!" Aranaut told her, trying to fly out.

Trying not to laugh, Fabia started to walk out when a voice stopped her.

"Yes, and that crazy old lady also made sure that you wouldn't relapse by doing too much work!" To Fabia, she said, "Oh, and I made him drink this." It was a liquid in a glass bottle, and it reeked. It was the color of spoiled cheese.

"Ugh. What is that thing?" Asked Dan, but quickly shushed up when ten pairs of eyes glared at him.

"That, my dear Brawlers, is a potion made to keep Aranaut from crashing again. To keep him at full strength, and to make sure he doesn't collapse again, he must drink five teaspoons of that each day." The specialist told them.

"No! No way am I drinking more of that vile concoction!" Aranaut said, and he hid behind Fabia.

Everyone laughed, and Aranaut said, "What? I'm serious! That is disgusting! You drink it, not me!"

"Anyway, Aranaut is all free to go. Good luck, Brawlers, and Princess Fabia!" The Bakugan specialist bowed to the young Princess, seemingly aware of what everyone knew; the Princess would very likely not be coming back alive.

"Thanks. Thanks for everything." Fabia told the Bakugan specialist.

"Let's go!" Shouted Dan impatiently.

"Go where?" Aranaut asked, befuddled.

"We'll fill you in on the way." Linehalt told him quietly.

When they arrived at the castle, specifically Kazarina's lab, they found no sign of anyone. There was a note on the table, however.

'Meet me out back, Brawlers. Your ninja friend and his Bakugan are still alive, but barely. You might want to hurry!

Kazarina'

"Ok, let's go then!" Fabia started towards the door, but Ren stopped her.

"Wait. You shouldn't be the one risking your life. You are the Princess of Neathia! What are we thinking? If you die, everything will have meant nothing. It wouldn't be right. You can't do this. I will." Ren said, shaking his head.

"Yes. Ren and I will fight for Shun." Linehalt said.

"No! As the Princess of Neathia, I ask, no, command you to leave this to me. I can handle this." Fabia told him.

"The Princess is right. She and I can handle this. There is no need for concern." Aranaut said.

Fabia brushed past the rest of the Brawlers, and grudgingly, they followed her.

When they stepped outside, they saw Shun, obviously injured. His entire body was covered with dirt, and most of his body was covered with bleeding cuts. When he saw them, he made an attempt at smiling, which was terrifying, considering his lips were bleeding, and blood was dripping from his face, out of multiple wounds. It was more like a grimace.

"G...uys? F-Fabia?...You...came." This was said out of a scratchy and hoarse voice.

"Of course we did, buddy. That's what friends are for!" Dan told him, racing over with the rest of the Brawlers and Fabia to check on him.

"Shun, are you...Shun!" Fabia had gone to check on the energy rings surrounding his feet and legs, and suddenly they dissipated, making Shun fall forward. Fabia caught him, and smiled at him with tears visible in her eyes.

"Hawktor!" The same thing happened to the Bakugan enclosed in a box of the same material.

"Very touching, but who exactly is going through the course?"

Before they could make good their escape, a field of energy surrounded them completely, blocking off any exits.

The Bakugan came out of ball form, and tried smashing it, to no avail.

"It's...no...good." Drago panted. "It's too strong! We can't break it!"

"Whoever is going to go through the course better step forward." Kazarina screeched.

"I am!" Fabia handed Shun to Dan after kissing him on the forehead, and stepped forward.

Ren started to walk forward, but she said, "Sorry about this!", and swept his feet out from under him, and jumped forward five feet.

A wall of the same energy separated her from the rest of the Brawlers.

"Fabia!" They all started to pound on the energy. Afraid it would break, Kazarina pressed a button, which shocked them each time they tried to break it.

"It's ok. I'll be fine. Don't worry! Goodbye!" Fabia shouted to them.

Immediately, the 'games' began. A volcano suddenly stood in front of her.

Kazarina dropped a large boulder in.

"You need to find that stone! You may use Aranaut to aid you in this. You have ten minutes, or all your friends get fried!" Kazarina told her, cackling maniacally.

"Fine. Aranaut, you think you could levitate that stone out of the volcano?" Fabia asked her partner.

"With ease, Princess." Aranaut quickly focused his powers on retrieving the boulder, and levitated it out, not breaking a sweat.

"Well, well, well! I see you found it!" Kazarina said.

The Brawlers cheered, now sitting carefully, away from the sides of the walls.

"Next!" Kazarina shouted, noting with displeasure the cheering.

"In this one, you may not use your Bakugan!" Aranaut was forced to revert to ball form, and sucked into a box made out of the clear energy. "You have to swim from where you stand, and make it to the other side." They were suddenly on a small island, and Fabia could barely see the other side.

"Easy!" Fabia shouted.

"Not so fast!" Kazarina trilled.

"Huh?"

"These waters are filled with the deadliest sea creatures known. They haven't been fed in a week! And, if you don't make it to the other side, your friends will drown." Kazarina laughed.

The water was slowly moving up the sandy shore. Based on a quick calculation, Fabia had about one hour before it drowned her friends, her love, and her best friend.

Fabia gulped. She could hear the Brawlers and Aranaut shifting nervously.

"Fabia!...Don't...do...it!" Shun yelled with what little energy he had left.

She swallowed, took off her earrings, and necklace of Jin, and set them down, next to Aranaut.

Fabia dived in the waters, swimming as fast as she could towards the other side.

Halfway there, still swimming hard, she felt a pain in her leg. When she looked down, a poisonous creature that looked like a jellyfish, had it's stinger in her left leg, delivering a powerful venom that would render her paralyzed if she didn't pull it out within ten minutes. If she pulled it out, she wouldn't become paralyzed, but the pain of taking it out would be mind-blowingly difficult to overcome.

Knowing she couldn't pull it out of her leg in the water, leaving a trail of her blood for the creatures to follow, Fabia took off again, trying to go even faster, despite the numbness slowly creeping up her leg.

As the numbness started up her hip, Fabia finally made it to the shallows, where it seemed a shark, a giant shark, was waiting for her.

It swam towards her with aggression, tail whipping back and forth, creating a undercurrent that was difficult to stay upright in. Fabia knew she couldn't fall over.

If she did, everything would be over. The shark would be upon her, and if that didn't kill her, the other animals would be there, fighting over her bloody body.

Fabia stood strong, and walked forward, despite the fact that the shark had started faking, rushing her, then veering away at the last moment, trying to herd her out into the open ocean. She stepped forward, then started dragging her now useless leg forward, until she reached the sandy beach.

"Thank you." Fabia whispered, falling onto the ground gratefully. She knew that the hard part was still coming. The Brawlers were suddenly there, at least there on the beach, in their prison of energy. Aranaut was free, and he brought her jewelry to her. She fastened her earrings back on, and tucked her necklace into a pouch inside her Castle Knight uniform. She had been afraid the necklace, an electronic hologram locket of Jin and now Shun, would be ruined by the salt water.

Fabia reached towards the stinger with trembling hands. The paralyzing venom had reached up to her ribcage, making it difficult to breathe. The poison had infiltrated her lungs, and would soon affect her heart, effectively killing and silencing her forever.

She wasn't going to let that happen, however. Fabia grasped the stinger, which was quite large, about two feet long and one foot wide, and pulled, hard. Immediately, she doubled over in pain.

"Ow..." She gasped, and Aranaut and the rest of the Brawlers crowded forward, Aranaut to her, and the Brawlers to the front of the prison.

"Princess, are you all right?" Aranaut asked, extremely worried about her.

"I will be fine...as soon as I get this stinger out.." Fabia breathed hard.

"Fabia! You must get that stinger out, now! It will paralyze and kill you if you don't!" Ren shouted.

"Say what!?" Asked the rest of the Brawlers.

Ren paid them no mind. "I know how much it hurts, but unless you want to die, you need to get the stinger out, and sterilize the wound, fast!" He shouted to her.

"He's right...Here goes nothing..." Fabia said to Aranaut, and she started to pull again.

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, not tears of sadness or happiness, tears of pain. It took a lot to make Fabia cry from physical pain when she was in her right mind.

She refused to let them fall, and instead, pulled out most of the stinger. The tip of it had broken off, and was deep inside her leg. Knowing that the tip contained the most potent poison, Fabia looked for a sharp rock.

Finding one, and dipping it in the salt water to somewhat sterilize it, at least get the sand off, she plunged it into her leg, deep inside of it. The pain was intense. She had never felt anything quite like it. The pain, and the fact that her lungs were starting to be affected by the poison, made her black out.

A few minutes later, Fabia woke up to the sound of Aranaut yelling at her to get up.

"PRINCESS FABIA! YOU MUST GET UP! IF YOU DO NOT, YOU WILL DIE! YOU WILL NOT DIE ON MY WATCH! GET UP NOW!" Aranaut roared, nearly giving her a heart attack.

"Ok, ok...I'm awake..." Fabia pulled the rock out of her leg, only to plunge it back in again, digging out the stinger and destroying some muscle tissue. Even then, the worst was yet to come.

"Good! Now you have to sterilize it, cauterize it, basically make sure that it's clean and stops bleeding!" Ren shouted to her.

"This is going to hurt, a lot, so get ready! Push your leg into the salt water to clean it. The salt also acts as a cauterizer, stopping the bleeding. You're going to need to keep it in for at least one minute, to make sure that the wound is clean and sterilized, okay?"

"Ok...Here goes nothing..."Fabia whispered, and she started to edge her leg down towards the sea.

As soon as it hit the water, she hissed, and stopped moving, closing her eyes painfully.

The Brawlers started cheering her on; Aranaut flew around to a freshwater stream and gave her a sip of fresh water, which she greatly appreciated, considering the sweat that streamed down her face as she tried to deal with the pain.

She swallowed, and inched the leg forward, finally getting frustrated with how slow it was going, and just put her entire leg in. Immediately, she had to stifle a scream. The pain was white-hot, and made her mind completely blank. Biting her wrist to keep from screaming, Fabia shook and tried to force herself to sit there, and even splash more water on it, to completely sterilize it.

Every move on land with her leg hurt; in the sea, it burned like fire. What made it even worse was that the sea was so warm. If it was cold, it might not have burned so much. When it was warm, there was absolutely no relief in the water, just pure pain and suffering.

"Fabia! Are you okay? Answer me!" Dan shouted, banging on the sides of the enclosure, and he received a painful electric jolt, sending him flying backwards until Drago caught him and said, "Don't do that again."

"I'm...fine...guys...really!" Fabia tried to smile, but it was instead a grimace as she fought with herself to keep it in for at least one whole minute.

"F-Fabia...Please...Be...Okay..." Shun cried out, trying to reach her, by hitting the glass repeatedly. All he accomplished was being electrocuted repeatedly, until he fell into Jake, who caught him and laid him down.

Finally, after a minute had passed, Fabia felt like her leg and her head would explode from the pain. She very slowly and carefully moved her leg out of the water, and nearly blacked out from the intense pain.

"Stay strong, Fabia!" Shouted Ren.

"Aaah!" Was her only response, as she fell over, clutching her leg tightly. Suddenly the barrier holding the Brawlers disappeared. They hesitated for a moment, surprised, then charged forward towards Fabia.

"Fabia!" The Brawlers shouted, nearly in unison.

As they reached her, it was clear she was not able to say anything. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her mouth pinched tight, her fists clenched together. Her leg looked like it had been cut by a saw. The poison was out, the wound sterilized and cauterized, but it was red, and the cuts went down to the bone. Worst of all, the wound was about 2 feet long, since Fabia had to dig the stinger out using crude tools.

"Fabia...Please talk to me." Said Shun, whose own face was pale and flushed.

"Jeez! Woah, how are you still awake? I would have passed out by now!" Said Dan.

They all jumped back, except Fabia, when a small box with a silver parachute landed in front of them.

Upon opening it, they found a various array of medical supplies and a note.

'Well, we can't have her dying just yet. Now where's the fun in that?'

It was obviously from Kazarina.

"Grrrrrrrr..." Dan grated his teeth. He started screaming, "Come on out, Kazarina! Come out, you coward!"

"Dan, calm down. I need your help." Ren took hydrogen peroxide out of the box and liberally poured over the wound, adding to Fabia's pain.

Fabia took a huge breath, her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fainted, right into Shun's waiting arms.

"Why did you do that? She was in pain already, and you made it one-thousand times worse!" Shun snapped at him, annoyed. He was cradling Fabia's head delicately.

He looked terrible as well. Well, when you're love's life is on the line, Ren supposed, you forget about your own pains.

"Because, when she's out, she can't feel any pain. I want to finish this as much as I can before she wakes up!" Ren told him.

"Fine." Shun said angrily.

Ren didn't take offense to his tone because he knew how much it hurt Shun to see Fabia like this, weak, and injured. He just hoped no one ever told him how freaked out Fabia became after she saw him nearly die. That would be a nightmare.

Ren finished cleaning the wound, and then he carefully slathered a cream that seemed to protect it, over it. After that, it seemed he couldn't do much else but tie a cloth around it tightly and tie it just as tight. Then, he replaced the section of the Castle Knight uniform, which had been designed so sections could pop off, back on the wound. He only hoped that would protect it.

"Ah!" Fabia shot up, breathing hard.

Shun said, "What? What hurts?". He was panicking. His face was a mixture of relief that she was awake, and concern for her wound.

"Nothing, I just...a nightmare." She looked around, then back at Shun's face, with dread, saying, "It wasn't a nightmare, was it?"

He shook his head almost imperceptibly, tears threatening to stream from his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I failed you, I couldn't protect you!" Shun hugged her tightly, and Fabia held onto him tightly.


	12. Chapter 12

Aranaut and Hawktor came up to the both of them, comforting their respective partners.

"We'll get through this, Princess. No one can stop us!" Aranaut's bravado made Fabia smile and laugh a little bit.

"Shun, don't worry. They'll be fine. Stop worrying, okay? I'm sure that they can handle themselves." Hawktor said, nudging Shun's head lightly.

"You're right, Hawktor. They can handle themselves." Shun smiled and started to laugh along with Fabia.

The peace and happiness that was once there was suddenly destroyed as tendrils of energy caught and replaced the Brawlers back into their cage.

"Hey! Let us go!" Dan shouted angrily.

"Fabia!" Shun was hysterical.

"It's all right! We'll be fine!" Fabia shouted back to him, then turned her back to face the next challenge.

The challenge was to stay in an ice pit for ten minutes, without dying. Fabia endured it, and contracted hypothermia as well as a severe case of pneumonia while doing it, prompting her to wonder whether these illnesses weren't random after all. She went on to discover that Kazarina had put in special germs or animals, genetically enhanced to be attracted to her DNA, making her more susceptible to the germs, or the poison of the creatures. That also meant that she could get the diseases and suffer from them a lot faster than normal.

But somehow, Fabia survived, and went on to the next challenge. It went on like this for three days, until the sickness and strain on her once healthy young body began to take it's toll.

By the last challenge, Fabia could barely stand upright, causing Kazarina to frown. She didn't want Fabia dying of exhaustion; she wanted it to be bloody and gory, not slow and uninteresting.

So she raised the stakes even higher: Kazarina tied the Brawlers and their Bakugan to a post, making sure they couldn't escape, and releasing a pack of hungry wolf-like animals on them, while making sure that they didn't die before Fabia tried to rescue them.

The creatures were an unholy mix of godly-beautiful creatures, and a genetic lab test tube horror experiment. The result were purplish creatures that looked to be made purely out of muscle, no skin or fur to be seen, with legs five feet long. Their teeth, all four-hundred of them, were razor-sharp, obviously created to rip through flesh. Their eyes were as black as the night, with no visible mind behind them. They seemed to be creatures designed to murder, and only to murder. However, they were stunning. They were truly awe-inspiring. The animals seemed to glow under the moonlight.

Overall, they were terrifying. The stuff of nightmares.

Fabia saw them, and her eyes opened wide, obviously remembering them from somewhere.

"That's right, dear! These creatures played an active role in torturing your dreams, now didn't they? These were the creatures that nearly killed you in your sleep. And now, they're about to kill your friends! Hahaha!" Kazarina screeched, nearly cackling now from excitement.

"Fabia! Help!" Marucho shouted.

"I don't want to become dog chow!" Jake shouted, squirming and trying to force the field off of him with brute strength. Unfortunately, even his impressive strength and force couldn't force open the energy field.

Perhaps it was better that he hadn't gotten it open. He would have fallen directly in front of the monster-like creatures lunging for the feet wriggling just inches above their reach. Jake might have been able to take down one of those creatures, but he was no match for twelve of them. The Bakugan had been forced out of ball form, exposing their true size, which meant more meat for the animals if the energy fields ever let them go. Every struggle the Brawlers and the Bakugan made was punished severely, by shocking them nearly into oblivion.

"Don't worry! I'll...I'll figure it out, I promise!" Fabia shouted, limping as she circled around the wolves and the Brawlers. Apparently, the wolves didn't like that, and they charged her. Fabia tried running, but her lame leg couldn't take the stress, and she sank to the ground. Before she could be destroyed and eaten by the vicious creatures, she jumped onto a energy tentacle.

Immediately, she was shocked mercilessly by the thing. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she started falling, with all of the Brawlers shouting, "Fabia! No!"

Just as the wolves came in reach of her falling body, Aranaut came out of ball form, and caught her. He could disappear and reappear where the wolves weren't, and his speed saved them both.

"Dude, you have to teach me that trick!" Awkwimos told him.

He merely grinned in response, busying himself with staying out of the wolves claws and teeth, and also checking to make sure Fabia was all right.

She groaned and sat up, saying to Aranaut groggily, "Thanks. I owe you one if we get out of here alive."

"Don't worry. I can keep these beasts away from you. I can't seem to hit them, however." It was true. Whenever one came in range, Aranaut attempted to sweep it over the cliff they were on, thereby killing it and ridding themselves of the problem. But his hand went straight through them, doing nothing but wasting energy.

"All right. Let's figure out how to save everyone!" Fabia told him.

Aranaut nodded and reappeared on the top of a hill about one-hundred feet higher than they had been before.

"What do you think, Princess?" Asked Aranaut.

"I think...that we need to figure out the weaknesses of both the wolves and the electric shocker shields." Fabia said.

"Good plan. I'll take the wolves, Princess, so you can take the-" He was interrupted by Fabia.

"No, I'll take the wolves, you the energy containing them, okay? You're a lot stronger than me, not to mention smarter, so while I figure out how to destroy those awful creatures, you figure out how to free the Brawlers, okay?" Fabia looked up at him, pleading.

"Yes, Princess." Aranaut replied, sighing. She still, even in the heat of battle, thought of herself as less than others. Which would make her a wonderful Queen, if they got of there.

"It has been an honor fighting by your side. You would have made Jin proud. You were always his favorite partner, you know. He said to me that he had never had a brawling partner as sharp-minded and as loyal as you." Fabia told him, tears shining in her eyes.

"It has been my greatest honor, Fabia. Jin loved you more than anything, and I know you shared that feeling with him. I am sorry I lied to you. I was trying to protect you, thinking it was too painful to hear his name be said, especially by me, a constant reminder of what happened, of my failure. Jin was an amazing partner in battle, and I do miss him. But I think you and I have made an excellent team. I thank you so much, Princess, for everything." Aranaut said, tears threatening to cloud his vision.

"You are no failure, Aranaut. Remember that. You are the Princess's Bakugan and my partner. I-I love you, you know that? You're pretty much my brother now." Fabia was on the verge of all her tears spilling over.

"And, I love you. You are my sister. Thank you, Princess." Aranaut nearly sobbed, then caught himself, and straightened out.

Fabia laughed, kissed him on his cheek, and flipped off of his hand, landing on one leg, perfectly balanced.

"Good luck!" Fabia said, nearly taunting him.

Aranaut smiled, a war smile, and hurled himself at the machine imprisoning the Brawlers.

Fabia was cornered by a beast. As it started to advance on her ever so slowly, tail moving from side to side, she pulled out a flashlight and shined it directly into the beast's eyes, trying to blind it momentarily and buy her some time.

To her surprise, the creature howled, and its eyes smoked and disappeared, leaving it-presumably-blind.

"Aranaut! The beasts are affected by light! Shine as much light as you can on them! Try this out! Ability Activate! Mirage Up! Consecutive Ability Activate! Mirage Fists!" Fabia shouted, while using the small penlight as a weapon of mass destruction on the massive beasts.

"Good to know! Hiyah!" Aranaut shouted, taking out the beasts easily.

Once they were all but eradicated, Aranaut turned his attention back to the electrical prison. With a few blows, he managed to destroy it, but in doing so made all the Brawlers fall down, off the cliff, into a deep and dark abscess.

The Bakugan had long since been forced into ball form, and Aranaut easily caught most of them. But Shun slipped out of his hands, and Aranaut didn't want to risk dropping the others.

Fabia, terrified, dived over the edge of the cliff, and grabbed Shun as he woke up and started to panic.

"Sssshhh. I'm right here. You have to take care of yourself, okay? I won't be there anymore to save you and get you out of trouble. I love you so much." Fabia kissed him, smiling at him, and threw him, still free-falling, up to Jake who grabbed him and set him down.

Aranaut jumped after Fabia, trying desperately to rescue her. As he caught her, hundreds of boulders went flying down on top of them.

Drago and Hawktor tried to reach them before they were crushed, but were too late. As the two fell down, down into a black cavern, there was a sickening crunch.

Shun struggled in Jake's arms, trying to get free, but Jake didn't let go.

"Noooooooooooooooooo! Please, noooooooooo!" Shun started crying, a high, keening sound which was nearly animalistic.

As they flew away, Jake put Shun down. He seemed to be to shocked to move. Shun fell down to his knees on Hawktor's hand and just stared into the distance, barely breathing.

"Fabia. She's-She's-GONE! NOOOOOOO!" Shun pounded his grief into Hawktor, who let him, shocked as well.

"Shun, buddy, come on!" Dan was crying too.

In fact, everyone was, even the Bakugan.

"No! She was the one I loved, and now she's...gone." This last word was whispered, as Shun fell into Dan's arms.

A few weeks later, on a stormy, wet day, there was a funeral held. A funeral for a brave Princess and a loyal Bakugan, who was her best friend.

As the mourners gathered around the tombstone-just a tombstone, for no bodies had been found-the Brawlers wept.

"We couldn't save them. They saved our lives." Marucho sobbed.

"No! This isn't fair. Why did they have to die?" Jake wept.

After the funeral was over, everyone but the Queen and the Brawlers left.

Shun hadn't said anything, just rocked back and forth, tears streaming down his face.

"You okay, buddy?" Dan knelt over to hug him, crying also.

"N-No. She-She's gone. She's gone." Shun sobbed even harder.

"I know, but she went out strong. She wouldn't have wanted to die of something like old age. She wanted to go out in a blaze of glory, and she did." Dan replied.

"I-I guess you're right." Through the veil of tears, Shun smiled.

It was half-hearted, but it was a smile.

To the side, Ren and Linehalt sobbed silently.

"She was the only family we had." Ren told Linehalt, who nodded.

"Now she's gone. I should have, should have..." Ren was cut off by Shun rising unsteadily to his feet and staring into the distance, giving a sharp gasp of surprise.

"Who-That's her! It's Fabia! Fabia! Is it really you?" Shun started racing toward her, and the Brawlers were right on his heels, along with Queen Serena.

"Y-Yes. I love you...I-It's me, I...promise..." Fabia fell into the absolutely ecstatic arms of Shun. His face was lit with joy, and the Brawlers started to laugh ecstatically.

"No way! She's alive!" Dan shouted.

"M-Me t-t-too..." Aranaut fell down too, until Hawktor and Linehalt caught him, laughing hysterically.

Queen Serena hurried to her little sister. She kissed her on the forehead, and passed her back to Shun, tears joyfully streaming down her face.


	13. Chapter 13

Fabia opened her eyes slowly, trying to adjust to the light.

Shun and Ren were standing over her, watching anxiously.

"H-Hi?" She asked hesitantly.

They started to laugh, relieved.

"What's so funny?" Fabia demanded weakly.

"Y-You!" Shun gasped. "You are ridiculous! You fall off a cliff trying to save me, get crushed to death by hundreds of boulders, and somehow come back to life with minimal injury! You're crazy!"

Fabia blushed, and shrugged her shoulders.

She winced, and a small grunt came out of her mouth at the sudden sharp pain, well, everywhere.

"What's wrong?" "Are you okay?" Shun and Ren asked immediately, studying her face carefully.

"I'm fine, just in a little bit of pain. My body hurts." Fabia replied, smiling at them.

"Well, you do have fractured bones in your arms and legs, a broken collarbone, internal bleeding, cracked and broken ribs, you're feet are worn almost down to the bone, you've got numerous cuts all over your body, you have a mild concussion, and a dislocated shoulder!" Ren told her.

"Oh. That's why." Fabia said quietly.

"I'll leave you two alone. Feel better, Fabia." Ren leaned over to kiss her on the forehead.

Shun watched him with wide eyes as he did so, and got ready to kill him when Fabia stopped him.

Ren left the room, smiling at the two lovebirds.

"What was that about? Why did he kiss you? Why-" He was cut off by Fabia grabbing his shirt and pulling it towards her, capturing his lips with hers for a sweet, passionate kiss.

"Feeling better?" Fabia asked.

"Yes. But why-"

"Because I adopted him as my brother. Ren has no one else to go too, no family, and he needs one desperately. Him and Linehalt. Okay?" Fabia told Shun, grinning at him weakly.

"Oh. Ok. Well...Umm..." Shun was pulled toward her once again for another kiss, not that he minded.

"And here you thought he was trying to steal me." Fabia said smugly.

"No, I didn't!" Shun protested.

Fabia gave him a look that said, 'You know you did.'

"Fine. I'm sorry, Your Highness. Can you ever forgive me?" Shun asked, sweeping into a mock bow.

"Go on, shoo!" Fabia said, laughing.

Shun laughed as well as her, plus Hawktor and Aranaut started chuckling, watching their partners fall in love.

Suddenly, Fabia doubled over.

"Ow...ow..." She whispered, in agony.

Fabia fell over, into Shun's arms, and he carefully laid her back on the bed, before sprinting and calling for a doctor.

"Somebody! Help! Fabia, she's in agony!" Shun raced through the halls, not stopping until he found a doctor.

His name was Dr. Cornelius, a handsome, smart young man with a lot of potential. His first charge was taking care of the Royal Princess.

He sprinted back with Shun to Fabia's room.

She was lying on the floor, panting wildly. She tried to crawl toward them, saying, "Shun...Help..."

She could only make it halfway, however, so quickly Shun strode forward and scooped her up, trying not to jostle her in the process.

Still, she yelped, and all the Brawlers came flying into the room. Dan and Drago rushed forward, followed closely by Ren and Linehalt.

"What's wrong with her?" Dan asked breathlessly.

"Doctor, will she be okay?" Ren asked quickly, extremely concerned.

"Well, considering the massive extent of her injuries, I'm surprised she's even alive. The internal bleeding seems to have increased for some reason, and her heart is speeding up tremendously! I'm not sure-Aranaut, could you come here for a moment?" The doctor motioned towards the Haos Bakugan.

"Yes, sir. Of course." Aranaut flew forward anxiously.

"If you could join your power with hers for just a moment, I do believe her heart will return to normal, which will cease, or at least stop, the internal bleeding. Do you think you could try it?" The doctor looked at Aranaut hopefully.

"I could try. I don't know if I can do it again. But I will try." Aranaut closed his eyes and concentrated hard, his body once again becoming washed by a soft golden, pulsing light.

Fabia's body responded by becoming luminescent as well, and her heart slowed down. Most of her minor injuries were healed, the major ones became much closer to being fully healed, and her breathing was not labored and rough.

"You did it, Aranaut!" Shun grabbed the Bakugan out of the air, and gave him a big hug.

The Castle Knight Bakugan blushed red.

"Yes, I am glad..." Aranaut fell over, and Shun caught him before he could roll off his hand.

"Poor guy. Must have really tired him out. Is he okay? Is Fabia okay?" Dan asked nervously.

"Yes, the Princess is fine. As for Aranaut, he will be fine as well. He just needs a lot of bed rest for the next few days." The doctor said, then tipped his hat and left, just after giving Fabia some pain medicine.

"I wonder what would happen if Fabia tried to do the same thing herself. Would it work?" Marucho said thoughtfully.

"I don't know. But I'm glad they're going to be all right." Ren smiled, relieved.

Everyone but Shun left the room.

Shun gathered her up in his arms, lying next to her, and promptly fell asleep.

Hawktor clambered out of his pocket, grabbed the falling Aranaut, and carried him to a bed for Bakugan. Hawktor climbed into one of the beds too, and fell asleep, muttering, "Sure. Leave the Bakugan to do all the work. Why not?"

But he had a smile on his face.

The next morning, Shun woke up to Ren shaking him awake.

"Shun. Shun! Wake up."

"What?" Shun asked, stretching leisurely as he yawned.

"Look." Ren pointed at Fabia, and Shun's breath was taken away.

Around her neck was a necklace, made of a jewel that was as brilliant as the shining sun. A dozen large jewels, in various lengths, encircled her slim neck.

The jewels themselves were filled with an energy that was obviously Haos, and it pulsated inside the jewels, seeming to match Fabia's heartbeats.

"Woah." Shun breathed out slowly.

The rest of the Brawlers barged in, and nearly fell over as they stared at her-specifically, her necklace.

"What is that?" Dan asked.

"It looks like it was made from the Sacred Orb!" Awkwimos pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right!" Marucho said.

"Aranaut too?" Hawktor asked.

For there, yawning as he awoke, was Aranaut, the diamond patterns on him outlined in the same jewels.

The jewels on both Fabia and Aranaut pulsed in time with the other.

"It's like they're connected somehow." Coredom said.

"Yeah." Jake replied.

"It's a marking, really." Everyone spun around to find Linus standing there, arms crossed and eyes closed.

"A what?" Dan asked, confused.

"A marking. When the bond between a Brawler and his or her Bakugan becomes so strong that they are one in spirit and in heart. This bond can be a blessing, and it can be a curse." Linus gazed at the Princess lovingly, a brotherly kind of loving.

"A curse? How?" Ren asked.

"Well Ren, since they are so connected, Fabia may use the powers of her Bakugan, all of the abilities he has are hers, and vice versa. But those powers, unless the Brawler has an incredibly strong mind and body, can be difficult to control, weakening the Brawler, destroying all the energy the Brawler has to fight." Linus replied.

"Seriously?" Dan asked.

"And there's more." Linus went on. "If one of them is killed in battle, or by unnatural causes, the other dies too. The Brawler who is connected with her Bakugan has the life span of her Bakugan-thousands and thousands of years. Millenia, even. They can never have another battling partner for an extended period of time. Each one feels the other's pain, emotional and physical. So if one is injured, the other feels the pain as well."

Linus stopped talking and stared into space.

"Very few have this special bond. It takes everything. If one dies for a noble cause in battle, the other has the option of either dying and rejoining their partner, or living out the rest of their life, feeling somewhat empty, only to rejoin them after a series of tests designed to test the emotions of the partners. To see whether they are worthy or not to join their partner in the heavens."

Commander Elright finished for him. "Linus and Neo had this bond."

"They did?" Dan asked, excited.

"Yes, we did." Linus abruptly stopped talking and walked away, head down, shoulders slouched, hands in pockets.

"What's wrong with him?" Asked Marucho.

"He must have chosen to live, rather than join Neo, and now he feels guilty, or empty." Shun replied, sad for his friend.

"Yes. And unless he finds a true love, one worth living and dying for, then he will never feel whole again, until he rejoins Neo." Commander Elright said.

"That's-That's terrible." Ren said.

"Yeah. It is." Replied Commander Elright.

"Ok. So this necklace, the one around her neck, is it part of her? Is it attached to her?" Shun asked, trying desperately to get the subject away from death.

Thankfully, Dan realized what he was doing, and why. Shun hated death-he watched his mother die, and he couldn't stand to watch his love die too.

"Yeah! And what's up with the glowing? Couldn't that be dangerous in covert operations?" Asked Dan.

They all just stared at him, uncomprehending.

"What? What is it? Do I have something on my teeth?" Dan began frantically picking his teeth, trying to find an invisible piece of vegetation on them.

"No, it's not that...Did you seriously use the word 'covert'?" Shun asked.

"Hey! Not funny! Just 'cause I'm an awesome Brawler, doesn't mean I can't know cool words!" Dan said, pouting.

"Um, Dan? I'm pretty sure that I'm a good Brawler, and I'm not exactly stupid." Marucho pointed out.

"Yeah, well...Um, well you see..."Dan scratched the back of his head, and looked embarrassed.

"Don't worry, we're just teasing you." Shun smiled at him, then jumped ten feet into the air when a new voice spoke.

"Yeah, so you're all pretty smart, and good Brawlers. So what? I'm a Princess who brawls! What could be more awesome than that?" Fabia weakly asked from behind Shun.

Shun jumped, realizing in mid-air that Fabia wasn't an enemy coming to eat his brains, she was his love. So, his body fought with his highly trained instincts, trying to get it to stop chopping the air with his hands and feet.

The result was pretty comical. He knocked over a couple of floating tables, spilling juice and ice cubes all over himself and the floor, managed to get tangled up in the wiring of the machines Fabia was hooked up too, and get rolled up in spare blankets before landing in Jake's arms.

They all laughed, and Shun laughed with them. Fabia was laughing so hard she was nearly crying.

Shun's face was redder than a tomato when he stood up, trying unsuccessfully to untangle himself. Dan helped him get untangled.

"Thanks." Shun muttered, looking at the ground, embarrassed.

Fabia looked as happy as Shun could ever remember seeing her.


	14. Chapter 14

Fabia looked as happy as Shun could ever remember seeing her.

Things had settled down for a couple weeks. No fights, no brawls, no kidnapping-nothing. It was suspicious, but also very nice.

So, in honor of the safe return of Fabia and the Brawlers, Queen Serena decided to host a party. Well, more like a ball.

Everyone had to come dressed up nicely, in tuxedos and dresses. The royal dressmakers and tailors would take care of them, making their outfits to suit each individual person.

Julie had been invited, too, so Fabia wouldn't feel as awkward, being the only girl. And, although she had never met them, Runo and Mira were invited as well. Fabia was assured that they were very nice. And, because they were dating, Ace was invited as well.

When the girls arrived, the first thing they did was to swarm to Fabia, completely ignoring the boys, who had been standing there, arms open, ready to say hi.

Dan's mouth dropped open, and Drago smirked at him.

"Shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to. That smirk on your face says it all."

Runo and Mira introduced themselves, then knelt before Princess Fabia. That made her a bit uncomfortable-it wasn't like she was the Queen, anyway.

"Please, rise. It's so nice to meet you two. I've heard so much about you!" Fabia said.

"I hope it's good things you've heard." Said Mira.

"Yeah! Dan better not have told you any embarrassing stories about me, has he?" Runo demanded.

"Um, well..." Fabia stuttered, unsure of what to say or do.

"I knew it! Dan, you're going to pay for this!" Runo dragged Dan off by the ear, shouting all the way.

"Oh, Runo." Tigrerra sighed, bowing to Fabia before chasing down her partner.

"Well, then. Runo certainly seems...spirited." Aranaut said to Fabia.

The remaining three girls laughed.

"Runo really is sweet, she's just, um, got tons of spirit, like Aranaut said!" Julie said, a bit embarrassed for her friend.

"She is, truly." Mira said, giggling a bit.

"I believe you, don't worry." Fabia said to them.

Shun came up to her, and held her, her back to his chest.

"I am so happy you're okay. I love you. Do you need anything?" Shun asked.

"I'm fine, thank you. Shun, go enjoy yourself, okay?" Fabia told him, smiling up at him gently.

"It'll be hard, without you, but still, I'll try." Shun kissed her head briefly, then waled towards the other guys, who were trying to make a human pyramid. It wasn't going so well.

Watching him walk off, Fabia was aware of Julie and Mira watching her. They were giggling.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"Oh, it's just that, in all the years we've known him, Shun has never seemed so happy. I've never seen someone more in love with someone else before. Even now, he's watching you!" Julie sighed happily.

Fabia turned around, and it was true. Shun kept glancing her way, every time a small smile coming onto his face. When he saw her watching him, he blushed and turned back towards the other guys.

"Awwww! It's adorable!" Mira said, excited.

"Yes, yes. We're adorable. But now, let's go get our dresses made for the party tomorrow night!" Fabia said. "Oh, and could someone find Runo?"

"No need. I'm right here. Awwww, you're right! You two DO make the cutest couple!" Runo said, appearing next to Fabia.

Fabia jumped five feet in the air, not expecting this, and struggled not to attack her. She fell out of the air, straight into the arms of Shun.

"Thanks." Fabia blushed.

"No problem." Shun replied, obviously fascinated by every movement that she made.

"Sorry, I really didn't mean to scare you like that!" Runo told her, worried.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault. It was kinda funny, actually." Fabia said with a small smile on her face. "Uh, Shun? You can put me down now. I'm fine, really."

"Huh? Oh, sorry!" Shun put her down quickly, nearly dropping her in his haste to get rid of the blush staining his cheeks crimson.

"Woah!" Fabia said, barely landing on her feet.

"Sorry!" Shun hid his face in his hands, until Fabia pulled them apart.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. The tailor expects you guys to be there within an hour, 'kay? Get Linus to the tailor, too. And Commander Elright. Well, at least ask him. They'll be pleased to know we thought of them. Hopefully, they'll accept. We have to get our dresses made, too. See you soon!" Fabia dashed forward, kissed him lightly on the lips, and made a run for it, the other girls right on her heels.

"Huh? Hey!" Shun shouted after them, still dazed from her kiss.

The girls giggled.

When they got to the dressmaker, she immediately set to work, making each and every gown unique and a piece of art.

Runo's gown was creamy yellow with a bit of fire at the edges, showing off her kind but fiery personality. It was in stripes, white and yellow, with red flames licking up the edges. Paired with it was gloves of white and red.

Julie's dress was pink and a kind of light golden brown rimming the edge. There were bows and ruffles everywhere. Even though it may not have been Fabia's first choice, it was still very beautiful and fit Julie, and her personality, perfectly. With it were pink lace gloves to match.

Mira's dress was of a deep golden color, more gold than brown, but with enough of the brown to make it deep and rich. Just like Mira herself, there was a hint of kindness in the dress, not too big or small, not too fancy or plain, but simple and gorgeous. It fit her like a glove. Speaking of gloves, Mira's were white with gold edging.

Fabia's dress. Oh, Fabia's dress was stunning. Like Runo, her dress was made up of the Haos colors, white and yellow. Unlike Runo's dress, Fabia had green diamond-shaped patches shimmering next to gold and white. The top of her dress went from white to gold, then the bottom was green with a tint of gold. Edging the dress was a blue the same color as Aranaut's 'jewels', set in his skin.

It looked as though it was made out of jewels. However, whenever Fabia moved, the jewels shimmered and shattered into all colors of the spectrum. She tried it on, both with her Neathian form, and with her human form, feeling comfortable enough to do that with the girls.

Finally, with a little bit of encouragement, Fabia decided to go with her Neathian form. The color of her eyes would be brought out by the color of her dress, and the necklace she wore. It was the necklace that had appeared around her neck mysteriously when her bond with Aranaut went to the next level.

On her hands she wore gloves of the purest white, with green edging the tops of the gloves.

All of them were beautiful, but Fabia quite literally outshone them all. She was simply stunning.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" Dan rapped the door with his hand.

"Dan! Don't you dare come in! You guys can't see the dresses until tomorrow!" Runo shrieked at him.

"Aw. Come on, Runo. Fabia, please?" Dan begged.

Fabia replied, "Sorry, Dan. I'll go with Runo on this one."

"And don't even think of opening that door, Daniel! If you do, I will hit you over the head so hard you'll see stars!" It went on for a while.

Finally, when the boys left, Fabia shook her head in disbelief. That was one strange couple.


	15. Chapter 15

The girls decided to have a sleepover. The boys, figuring that was a great idea, hosted their own.

"So, Fabia, how's it going between you and Shun?" Asked Mira, trying to get answers out of her.

"Um, well, it's going fine. He's so sweet!" Fabia replied dreamily.

Sweet? This wasn't the word they were all expecting. For Shun to be 'sweet', he must really be in love with her.

"So, I'm guessing you've kissed already." Julie said.

"Yeah. Why?" Fabia asked.

"Well, was it nice? Was it sweet and gentle or hard and fiery?" Runo pressed.

"Um, well..."

At the boy's party, things were happening pretty much the same.

"So, Shun." Dan said.

"Yeah, Dan?" Shun replied.

"You and Fabia, huh?"

"Well, I guess so."

"So, is it nice dating her? Is she nice or is she demanding and controlling?" Asked Ace bluntly.

"Hey! Fabia is the best person I could ever wish to date. She's perfect, and don't let me hear you say otherwise." Shun's voice rose, a clear sign he was annoyed with Ace.

"Ok, ok. Just asking." Ace said, voice a little quieter.

"Alright. How are things between you and Mira?" Asked Shun.

"Ugh! She's so...so...I don't know. I really do like her, a lot, but I don't know what else to do! I don't know if she likes me back!" Ace said, frustrated.

"Of course she does, dude! You just have to ask her out!" Dan encouraged him.

"Oh. I didn't think of that." Ace said.

"Yet I've been telling you that all along." Said Percival.

"Be quiet, Percival."

They all laughed, and as the night went on, all of them, in both rooms, fell asleep.

Fabia couldn't sleep, however-she kept having bad dreams, over and over and over again.

So she called Shun, and he picked up on the first ring.

"Fabia? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Shun's voice became louder and louder as he got more and more panicked.

"Ssssssh, I'm fine. I...I just couldn't stay asleep. I keep having these terrible nightmares. I'm sorry to wake you up. Do you want to go back to sleep?" Fabia said.

"No, it's fine. Do you want to talk about the dreams? My mom used to tell me to talk about your fears, and that would make them powerless, or at least less scary." Shun told her gently.

"Ok. Um, well...I keep dreaming that I kill you, over and over again. You are standing next to me, and I stab you in the back. You turn and look at me, betrayal in your eyes. I'm so sorry!" Fabia said, upset.

"Sssssh, don't worry, okay? You would never hurt me on purpose, you know that, right? You're too much of a good person. Now go back to sleep. You'll be fine." Shun said gently.

"Thanks. I-I love you so much." Fabia told him.

"And I love you." Shun replied.

"Goodnight."

"If you need anything, call me. Goodnight, sweetheart." Shun said, clicking off the message.

Fabia smiled and closed her eyes. Breathing evenly, she fell into a sweet, dreamless sleep for the first time in weeks.

"Let's get ready!"

Fabia smiled and shook her head lightly. Julie was very enthusiastic.

"All right. It will take us a while to get ready, so we may as well get started, as Julie suggested!"

The girls all squealed. All the boy Bakugan were sent to help the boys out. That included Aranaut.

"But what if you need a guard? Who will protect you, Princess?" Aranaut protested.

"Don't worry about me. I can handle myself. Now, go have fun!" Fabia told him, lightly tapping him toward the right direction.

"Okay, okay." Aranaut muttered.

After hours of preparation, the girls and guys were finally ready.

"Here we are!" Julie squealed, flinging open the door to the ball room, where the boys were waiting.

There was a slight pause as each gender checked out the other. Shun couldn't keep his eyes off Fabia, and neither could anyone else.

She was as radiant as the shining sun. Even more radiant now that she had the special bond with Aranaut. Her skin had a glow to it.

Fabia's dress had the green of the Ventus energy, showing her to be Shun's girlfriend.

"Wow...You look...Incredible." Shun breathed, trying not to keep staring at her.

"Thanks." Fabia looked at her feet, suddenly shy.

Dan obliviously solved that problem for her.

"Let's eat!"

There was a huge banquet laid out in front of them-everything looked and smelled amazing.

"I don't know what to try first!" Dan had a grin on his face that could only come about when faced with a mountain of food.

"Start with the soup. It's best hot." Fabia told him.

"Right!"

All of them dug in-finding it to be even better than it looked, no one talked for several minutes as they gulped it down as quickly as the hot soup would let them.

"That was awesome!" Jake said.

"An old Neathian specialty." Fabia said.

"Mmmmm! What's this?" Dan asked, showing them a dark blue drumstick covered with a green sauce.

The rest of them, excluding Fabia, shivered.

"That's a drumstick coming from a bird that lives out its entire life free, then when it dies, we use its body for meat. It's very similar to chicken in texture, but with much more flavor.

"Oh, ok then." Marucho picked one up with a server and put it on his plate, cutting it properly with a fork and knife.

Everyone watched as he took a small bite, chewed, then swallowed, with an indescribable look on his face.

He set down his fork and knife, and turned to Fabia, beaming.

"That might just have been the best thing I ever ate!" He dug in, and the rest of them shrugged and took a few pieces.

"Mmm! This is good!" Runo said, taking a few more pieces.

"Yeah! It's great!" Julie replied.

"Yum!" Jake shouted.

"This is very similar to what we have in Gundalia, except we kill the bird as opposed to letting it live its life out." Ren told Fabia, a sad look on his face, obviously remembering the cruelty of his former homeland.

"Cheer up! Don't worry about it, okay?" Fabia said to him, comfortingly.

"Fabia, what is this?" Shun pointed to a bowl filled with a mash that was bright orange.

"That, my friend, is Conkwaush. It is a vegetable native to this region. It's delicious!" Fabia said.

"Um, I don't really like vegetables..."Dan said, blushing.

"I'm sure you'll find this one to your taste." Fabia assured him.

"Ok...MMMMM! This is sweet!" Dan glopped a whole pile of the stuff onto his plate, eating with gusto.

All of them laughed.

After they finished eating, they went to the dance floor.

All of them felt a bit awkward, so they sat and talked for a while.

Marucho wore a deep blue shimmering suit, that gave the impression of waves constantly flowing. His tie had bubbles on it, true to his cheerful personality.

Jake's suit was a deep orange-brown. It fit his coloring and-especially his hair-perfectly. His tie was the color of silver, a metal found deep within the earth.

Ren's suit was a rich, deep black. If one looked closely enough, you could see pinpricks of light, stars or fireflies. The color set off his eyes and make them look almost smoldering. His tie was a shimmering purple.

Ace's suit was a dark purple, very plain and simple with lines running up and down it. His tie was white with black lines running vertically up and down it.

Dan's suit was a rich red color, nearly crimson. The red in his brown eyes were brought out by the color, making them flash with the color of fire.

And Shun, oh Shun. His golden brown eyes were brought out by a gold-green suit that shimmered white, gold, and green under the light. His eyes were stunning, like a 24 carat diamond. His hair was shining. When he looked at Fabia, his heart seemed to speak through his eyes.

As a slow dance went on, all pulled their respective partners to the dance floor. Fabia had invited a couple female Castle Knights who had protected her in the Royal Guard before to be the dance partners of those who didn't have a partner.

Their names were Idima, Anayah, and Elliana. As to be expected, they were all very pretty, wearing custom-made dresses, but they were nervous. They weren't used to fancy parties. The Castle Knights had one official party a year, to thank them for all their hard work.

Jake was paired with the pretty brunette, Idima. She was tall and lean, and very sweet, perfect for Jake's kind heart.

Anayah, a stunning raven-haired girl, with a laid-back personality, was Marucho's partner. She was only six months older than him, yet had proven herself an extremely valuable guard. She was treated almost as a sister to Fabia, and would gladly give her life for the Princess.

And Ren was partnered with Elliana, a well-made young lady. In a stark contrast to Ren's attribute, Elliana had shining golden hair rivaled only by her stunning blue eyes, shining brightly in the light.

Of course, Ace and Mira were together, Dan and Runo, and Shun and Fabia.

All of them crowded on the dance floor when a slow song started. Finding their partners to be wonderfully smart and perfect for their personalities, Jake, Ren, and Marucho actively began conversing with them.

Shun and Fabia gently swayed to the music, talking together.

"You look beautiful tonight, you know. You didn't see the looks on everyone's faces." Shun told her, fascinated by every movement. It was so rare for her to be in her true form, Neathian. He loved it, and her, so much.

"Right. Thanks. You look very handsome yourself, too! All the girls were staring at you." Fabia laughed gently.

"Uh-huh. Sure." Shun snorted, laughing along with her.

A new song was put on, a faster one, and all the partners dipped and swayed and twirled faster, keeping up with the beat. Even though not everyone was the best dancer, the Neathian music allowed them to do things they never thought would be possible, rivaling even the best dancers back on Earth.

Take Shun, for example. He may have been graceful and sneaky as a fox when it came down to simply walking, but he couldn't dance. Compared to the graceful Fabia, who had been schooled in the art since she was a small child, he was no better than a clumsy ox.

Fabia, on the other hand, moved gently and with purpose, as graceful as the fleetest gazelle. She showed him the steps; not being a natural dancer, it took him a while to get it, but when he got it, they moved swiftly and seemingly floated above the ground.

They truly were the perfect couple. All eyes were on them as they danced to a particularly fast, almost Spanish style (as in, fast and in beat), dance.

When they finished, they were met with applause. Fabia and Shun both blushed as all the Bakugan who were sitting back, being personally served, laughed.

Hawtor and Aranaut especially loved their respective partners. It had taken forever to get them together, and they were determined to keep them together.

"You think they'll get married?" Awkwimos asked.

The other Bakugan froze, and looked at Aranaut slowly, obviously expecting him to blow up at the mention of his partner marrying someone, after the devastating loss of Jin.

He did no such thing. Aranaut sat back and simply said, "I hope so."

All of them laughed, relieved, and started teasing Aranaut about it, saying that "You better get used to seeing pay attention to someone else.", and, "Try not to kill Shun every time they kiss, okay?"

"No promises." Aranaut replied gruffly, chuckling along with them.

But his mind was racing, thinking about what Awkwimos had said. 'Would they really get married? It will obviously take Fabia time to mend; after all, Jin died only months ago! But Jin really did want her to move on if he died. He knew the risks of the job. Of course, it won't be for a couple of years; they're only children, for heavens sake!

'If he hurts her, he's going to pay, in blood! I know he won't, but he still better not!'

Aranaut was oblivious to the other Bakugan calling him, until Drago shook him.

"Aranaut? Are you okay?" He asked him, worried.

"Hi-yah!" Aranaut flipped him over, reflexes spinning.

"Ouch! Now I know how Dan feels!" Drago moaned.

Aranaut turned a bright shade of pink. "Sorry about that. What were you saying?"

"Oooh. We were saying how all of them look really happy. Even though Runo nearly is strangling Dan." Drago replied.

"Then why don't you stop her?" Asked Coredom.

Both Tigrera and Drago chuckled.

"That way, I don't have to listen to him all day and night." Drago replied.

"Plus, Runo will be happy, leaving me no work at all to do." Tigrera agreed with Drago.

"Well, then everybody is happy!" Awkwimos said gleefully.

"Yup." Drago and Tigrera said simultaneously.

Aranaut just stared at Shun and Fabia; so young and so full of life. He hoped fervently that they would get married, and have long lives, full of adventure.

He also hoped he would be able to be part of that life.


	16. Chapter 16

A couple nights later, all of them were gathered outside, stargazing. Shun and Fabia were standing on a veranda, looking at the birds who had gathered next to them. Knowing the Princess, and knowing she wouldn't dream of hurting them, they often brought their chicks to her. Owls, falcons, hawks, eagles, and swans were among the most common. Well, that's what Shun thought they looked like. And they were very similar.

"Fabia?" Shun asked, looking down at his feet.

"Yes, Shun?" She replied, happily petting a baby gosling who mother had brought him too her.

"Please promise, that no matter what trouble you get into, that you'll always try to find me, and I you? I can't live without you." Shun told her, voice trembling with emotion.

"I promise. You and I, we're bonded. Nothing can separate us. Not even those horrid Gundalians. I wouldn't be able to live without you either. You are mine and I, am yours. Forever." She said to him quietly.

"Right." Shun nodded assurance.

She bent over and kissed him, sweet and soft, and Shun could feel the love they shared becoming one, together forever.

"Remember, you and the Brawlers came here to help my planet. We owe you so much as it is. How could we possibly pay you back?" Fabia asked, eyes casting down towards the ground again.

"But, that's the point! You don't have to pay us back! That's the whole reason we fight so hard; to make sure innocent people can be free, as well as the Bakugan!" Shun told her, lightly brushing away a strand of her hair

"Thank you so much, Shun. I love you-Ah!" Fabia had started to dissipate into thin air-and Shun yelled.

All of the Brawlers came rushing over, and pulled up short when they realized what was happening.

Shun reached towards her, and Jake pulled him back, afraid that he would disappear as well.

"Don't touch her, Shun! You'll just be pulled along with her!" Dan shouted.

Despite their warnings, Shun struggled in Jake's arms, and managed to hit him a couple times in his panic, definitely giving him a black eye and possibly a broken nose.

Finally, desperate to save his friend, Ren quickly pushed the pressure points in Shun's neck, and Shun fell into a deep sleep, fighting all the way.  
"N-No! F-F-F-Fabia..." The last word was whispered as Shun had no energy left to fight.

Aranaut tried to dive after her as well, but was held back by the Bakugan. Tears rolled down his face as he tried to shake them off.

"Please. I have to follow her! I can't lose her again! Please! Please, PLEASE!" Aranaut shook so hard he nearly dropped out of the air, and he was sobbing uncontrollably. "No. Not again. Please. Take me instead! Please! This isn't fair! PLEASE!"

Aranaut kept shouting, praying that someone could help him. It went on until Fabia's form was finally gone. The Bakugan released him, and he dropped to the floor of the verandah, shaking and sobbing, repeating Fabia's name over and over again, like a chant or a prayer. "Fabia...Princess...Fabia...Please..."

Out of pity and great sadness, Ren did what he had done to Shun to Aranaut. Exhausted and frightened, Aranaut fell deep into a dark, dreamless sleep.

A few days later, Ren woke up to see Aranaut glowing as brightly as the Sun on Earth. He had fallen asleep in Shun's hospital room, waiting to see them wake up.

Aranaut was more upset than Ren had ever seen him; even when his partner had died he hadn't had this kind of raw anger and energy.

"How. DARE YOU!" Aranaut screamed at the top of his lungs. Guards and the Brawlers came running.

"Aranaut, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Drago asked him.

"You, you, YOU!" Aranaut shouted at Ren. Ren gulped and started to back up.

"You...I could have helped her! YOU!" Aranaut was getting brighter by the second-his eyes were even glowing now. His entire body was different shades of light, all bright and piercing-nothing like the sweetly glowing light when he and Fabia were together so often.

"Aranaut. Calm down." Hawktor tried to reason with him, but Aranaut would not stand for reason.

"No. I will not calm down." Aranaut told him, furiously pacing the room.

"Well, then, I'm sorry about this." The rest of the Bakugan summoned up their powers and, as one, shot a beam of energy at him.

Without even turning his head, Aranaut deflected the energy beam.

Everyone there gasped. It should have completely drained him of energy, but he just stood there, not wavering a bit.

Suddenly, he disappeared.  
Two weeks later, the Brawlers and Castle Knights hadn't come any closer to discovering who had kidnapped their princess-yet again. Shun was going crazy.

"There's good news and bad news." Captain Elright said, chewing on his lip thoughtfully.

"All right! Any news is good news, right, Shun?" Dan asked cheerfully. He may not have been able to feel exactly how miserable his best friend was feeling, but he could imagine what he was going through.

Losing not only the love of your life, but your soul mate.

Shun didn't reply, too focused on Captain Elright's words. He couldn't talk. He was afraid if he opened his mouth at all, even a crack, he would start screaming. Screaming until he couldn't scream any more.

The Brawlers noticed this and frowned.

"Well, what's the news?" Jake asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Well, the good news is, we have found the Princess's signal. After the last kidnapping, we had a microscopic chip put into her bloodstream. We can locate this signal, to anywhere in the known universe. We can track her down now." Captain Elright said, pausing.

"But?" Marucho said, apprehensive.

"But...we don't know who captured her. It's not Gundalian. In fact, I...I don't even recognize the signature!" Captain Elright said, frustrated.

"Well, we have to go after her, no matter where she might be! We can't just let her stay there for the rest of the war!" Dan shouted, beginning to get excited.

"Yes, but at the same time, we can't exactly tramp through unknown territory, unannounced, not to mention the fact we know nothing about it. The customs of the people there, the dangers of the planet, even if we can breathe the air there." Ren told him.

Shun was thinking fast. If she was on an unknown planet, surrounded by unknown people...'She must be terrified.' He thought, tears welling up in his eyes. He shook his head. He couldn't cry now, not in front of everybody. No, he needed to be strong, for Fabia's sake.

(Three days later)

"Shun! Shun, buddy, where are you?" Dan called. He had been looking for him for hours, all over the Palace.

"Shun! Shu-Shun? What's wrong, buddy? Are you okay?" Dan knelt down next to Shun, hidden in a small alcove.

Shun was wordlessly, soundlessly crying.

"Shun? Shun, if you don't answer me, I'm gonna have to call everyone." Dan waited, then reached for his comm-link. Shun's hand stopped him.

"What? Shun, will you please tell me what's wrong? I'm really worried, man. Please?"

"I-I-What if she's dead, Dan? Then what? What purpose do I have, what point is there to living without her? I-She is part of me. She's left something in here", Shun tapped his heart, "that can never be changed or taken out, replaced.

"I know. That's why we're going to keep trying to find her." Dan told him quietly, sad for his friend.

"Thanks. I-I just need a minute." Shun told him.

"Sure, buddy." Dan started to leave, then hesitated. "We all miss her, you know? Ren misses her because she gives him hope and happiness." Shun's head snapped up, looking straight at Dan, who didn't meet his eyes.

"Marucho because she's the only 'sister' he's ever had, and she listens to all of his ideas, unlike us." Dan smiled, recounting good, old memories.

"Jake misses her-well, you know how hard it was for him last summer when his sister died in that car crash. He's never really gotten over it. She was only a little older than him. I guess Fabia fills that role for him. Either way, he's starting to heal because of her." Dan frowned, remembering how long it took Jake to even smile after his sister died, let alone brawl or talk. Coredom had really helped him out.

"And you? Why do you miss her, Dan? Shun asked him, exhaustion and pain laced in his voice.

"I miss her because of how she always manages to give everyone a good laugh-even when she is sick or injured. She's got a way of making even the worst of situations seem not so bad anymore. I ," also miss her because of how happy she makes you. Fabia, "Shun winced at the sound of her name,"just radiates hope. It's almost addicting. When you were sick, she went kinda crazy. I finally got to see her, all of her emotions, everything she has been trying to hide form us to protect us. She felt the same way as you do now. But she pulled through. She had us, and you do too. We'll be right by your side every step of the way." Dan smiled, and started to go back out.

"D-Dan?" Shun asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. I-I really needed that." Shun admitted, a small smile on his face.

"Anytime, buddy. That's what friends are for." Dan offered him a hand, and Shun took it, standing back up.

(a couple hours later)

"Brawlers, come to the transport room, immediately!" Elright shouted excitedly.

All five of the remaining Brawlers rushed to the room. There hadn't been this much excitement since Fabia was captured.

"What is it?" Dan shouted, pumped up for battle.

"Yeah, dude, come on, don't keep us in suspense any more!" Jake yelled.

"Elright! What's going on? Why won't you say anything?" Shun asked him.

"Because you haven't given me a chance to talk yet!" Elright said, smiling on their communicator s on their wrists.

"Oh."

"We have captured Princess Fabia's signature, and we are ready to go after her!" Elright told them as they rushed into the room.

"All right! Let's go!" Marucho cheered.

Shun, was distracted. There seemed to be a faint shimmer in the room. He walked towards it slowly, not realizing the Brawlers had stopped talking and were looking at him.

"Shun? What's wrong, buddy?" Dan asked, worried.

"Look there. There's-well, I'm not quite sure what it is exactly.

"Yeah. What is that?" Jake asked.

"Commander Elright? What is that thing?" Ren asked him quietly.

"I-I don't know. Be ready, we may be being invaded!" Elright pushed a button, and alarms sounded all over the castle.

Queen Serena appeared on the holographic screen.

"Commander Elright? What is going on down there?" She asked, stress evident in her voice.

"I-I'm not sure, Your Majesty." Elright replied, only tension in his voice giving away how worried he was, although he kept his cool stance.

The shimmer turned into rings, much like how the Brawlers and their Bakugan partners shimmered into being, transported really, to different places, even different worlds.

Could it be? Shun wondered.

As if in answer to his question, someone appeared in the center of the rings. It was Fabia.

"Fab-Fabia!" Shun shouted, leaping forward and catching her as she finally completely shimmered into being, and fell.

"Fabia!" The Brawlers cheered.

"Princess Fabia?" Commander Elright sounded relieved, but there was a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Fabia!" Queen Serena had come down herself to see her.

Fabia winced in her unconscious state, and Shun looked down, scanning her for injuries.

When he reached her stomach area, he gasped. There was a huge circle of blood, growing every second.

"We need to get her to the infirmary, now!" Ren told Shun quickly.

"Is she stable enough to transport?" Shun asked him.

"I don't think so. The stress might be too much, and tip the balance." Ren said, gritting his teeth.

"Ok. Let's run her up, then!" Shun started to move, Fabia firmly clasped in his arms, but Ren grabbed his Castle Knight uniform's sleeve.

"Wait. She might not be stable enough for that, either. And we don't have time! The size of that blood stain indicates we have only minutes. Maybe-Maybe we should try transporting. If we don't do anything, she will die. At least this way, she's got a fighting chance." Ren said, biting his lip, upset.

"All right! It's settled. You two, Shun and Ren, will transport her there. Shun because you won't let her go, I know that, and Ren, because you know medicine." Dan told them. "We'll meet up with you guys there."

"Ok." Shun took out Hawktor, asking him, "Will you?"

Hawktor replied, "Of course."

As Shun and Fabia started to shimmer, Ren grabbed Shun's hand, and they shimmered out of sight.


	17. Chapter 17

(two days later)

"Why hasn't she woken up?" Shun asked the doctor, pacing nervously around the room.

"Yeah! Aranaut hasn't woken up either!" Hawktor said.

They had found the Bakugan clutched tight in Fabia's hands.

"Well, there is an experimental treatment we could try...But, it is an experiment, and we don't know how it will affect the Royal Princess." The doctor told them.

"Well, try it!" Shun shouted, advancing on the doctor.

The doctor's unusually dark blue skin paled until it was almost as white as the infirmary's walls.

"Shun! Calm down." Ren said to him, pulling him away from the doctor and into the chair.

"Of course. I'm sorry, Doctor." Shun said, almost sheepishly.

"I-It's all right." The doctor took out a syringe, explaining, "This is a shot of pure adrenaline. It might shock her heart into waking her up." He aimed it into her heart, still watching Shun as if he would attack him any moment.

Ren couldn't blame him. When Shun wanted to be, he was terrifying.

The rest of the Brawlers came in just as the doctor inserted the needle into Fabia's heart, and pushed the adrenaline into her heart.

Fabia gasped, and shot up, throwing the doctor over her head, and landing in a protective stance. Jake caught the doctor and sat him down in a chair before he could fall over. He was even paler than before.

"Fabia. Shhhh. It's ok. It's us. The Brawlers, your friends." Ren said.

"Oh. I am sorry." Fabia said, the answer sounding unlike her.

Shun looked at her closely, and thought he saw a flash of red in her green eyes when she turned her head.

"It's ok. I'm just-going to go back to my quarters to rest. Feel better, Princess. I will send a replacement, one who is fresher." The doctor said, bowing out of the room.

All of the Brawlers hugged Fabia, then walked out, leaving Shun and her alone.

"So, what happened? Are you all right?" Shun asked carefully.

"I am fine. Thank you for your concern. I appreciate it, fellow Brawler." Fabia replied.

Shun looked at her eyes again, and saw the same flash of red in her eyes.

(two days later)

All six of the Brawlers were doing what they did best, brawling. Fabia wasn't doing as well as she usually was. In fact, she lost every single round. Usually, she and Shun were tied.

"Are you ok?" Shun asked. "You seem...different."

"I am fine. Please resume your normal activities." Fabia replied.

"All right." Shun turned his back on her, and started to walk away, when he felt a sharp pain in his back.

"Ahhhh!" He shouted, falling to the ground.

"My work here is done. Aranaut, let us leave here and go back home." Fabia said, not remorseful at all.

The Brawlers surrounded Shun and Fabia, shocked. There was a knife in Shun's back. Fabia's eyes were crimson red, and hair turned gray.

The necklace around Fabia's neck was gone.

"Fabia...Wh-Why?" Shun asked weakly.

"I am not Fabia. Well, this body is, but I am controlling her. Even as she fights me, I grow stronger. Feeding off of her emotions has made me powerful! Her emotions for that one," The creature who looked like Fabia motioned towards Shun, "are extremely strong. I thought that killing it would make her emotions even more potent, and I was right!" It laughed, a strange, harsh laugh, and started to walk away.

Suddenly, it struggled, and shook. It fell to its knees, and Fabia came out, and the necklace appeared

"No! Shun! I-" "Nice try, but no dice." The creature told her, cackling, while the necklace disappeared.

"F-Fabia. You can fight it. Fight it for me. I know you're in there. You can do it. Please..." Shun fell over, and stopped breathing altogether.

"N-No! No! You CAN'T! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! NOOOO!" The creature shouted.

"Shun! Shun. Shun. Shun. No. No! NO! Please, no, don't die. Don't die. I'm so sorry. Please don't die. There's so much blood. I'm so sorry!" Fabia cried, falling to her knees beside the dying Shun. She was returned to normal.

"Aranaut. Please. Please help me. I-I need to try it." Fabia said.

"Try what?" Ren asked.

"Please, Aranaut?" Fabia practically begged, out of character for the proud Princess.

"Of course, Princess." Aranaut replied gently.

They closed their eyes, Fabia transporting back to her Neathian form for full power, and started glowing with the Haos energy. Fabia opened her eyes, and they glowed, too. She took the knife out of Shun's back, and she and Aranaut touched the place where he was stabbed. When they stopped glowing, and the Brawlers could see again, Shun was healed, but Fabia and Aranaut were nowhere to be found.

(Hours later)

"Fabia!" Dan shouted.

After Shun had been situated in a hospital bed and given an IV to make him sleep, the remaining Brawlers went to look for Fabia. Jake, Ren, and Dan went, while Marucho stayed behind to comfort Shun.

"Fabi-Princess Fabia?" Ren ducked under a large tree in her personal garden, where her parents' dedications were. She had told him she often went there, because she could feel them there. It made sense, since they often had picnics there. It was her personal heaven.

She lay there, barely breathing, pale as a sheet, and with numerous wounds on her body. Aranaut lay next to her, in ball form, in similar condition.

"Fabia, oh, Fabia." Ren muttered.

He heard the others gasp when they came to see what he had found.

"Wow. What-What happened to her? She seemed fine-well, except for..."Jake let it drop.

"I think that may have been an illusion. When she wakes up, we'll have to get the full story from her." Ren answered.

"Then let's get going! She's not getting any better." Dan pointed out.

Jake carefully picked her up, trying to not jostle her at all, but her wounds were everywhere. It was next to impossible, and Fabia winced every time, even as she was unconscious.

They brought her to the hospital, where the nurses gasped and pressed a button. A red flashing light went off.

They brought a bed immediately. Seeing as her wounds were everywhere, they opted instead for a kind of hammock that's fibers were so thin, you couldn't feel them.

After she was hooked up to numerous IVs, scanners, and machines, a doctor was brought in.

"Oh!" He gasped. "She needs immediate care! These-These are marks from a whip!" Reading the wounds like a book, he uncovered what happened to her. "She was stabbed, whipped, shocked, and even revived as she fell into unconsciousness, only to be brought back just to do it again! It is very unlikely that the Princess will survive this ordeal."

"What?" Ren shouted. "She-She CAN'T die. She's Fabia. She's-She's my...my friend. Are you sure there isn't anything else you can do for her, sir?" He asked the doctor.

"No. I can give her some medication to ease the pain, but you might want to start saying your goodbyes. Princess Fabia doesn't have much time left in this world." The doctor said. He gathered up his things and left the room, tears almost spilling down his face.

"We need to get Shun here now." Dan said. "He'll never get over this."

"Yeah. Jake and I will go get him, while you say your goodbyes, Dan. We'll say ours later." Ren said, walking out of the room, Jake following him, heads down.

Dan dragged a chair next to the bed Fabia was now lying in. "Jeez." Dan sighed. "I wish there was more time in the world. The doc says you've only got a few hours left. I just want you to know that it's been great fighting with you. Heck, you're the only person in the universe who can make me shut up! You are the bravest person I have ever met. To save your world, you left your home, and came to a strange new planet to find us. Both of you. You and Aranaut. I wish I knew what to say, but I can tell you this; I have never seen Shun so happy since his mother was sick. He was so happy with you. He was beaming. When Ace asked if you were nice or not, Shun practically jumped him! I'll miss you, Fabia. You've been a great Princess/Sister. Thanks for the time." Dan shook, tears streaming down his face.

Drago was saying similar goodbyes to Aranaut. Both of them knew Aranaut wouldn't stay behind if Fabia went to the 'planet above the skies'. He would go up there, to be with her and with Jin.

Ren and Jake came in, helping Shun walk in. They left him alone with Fabia, to let him say his goodbyes.

"Fabia. I-I just want you to know that I love you more than anything. You are my light, my savior. You've saved my butt countless times, and held it over my head, too." Shun gave a short bark of a laugh. "I love you. There's so much to say. I'll find a way to join you somehow, after this war is over. You are the only one for me. I love you." He leaned over and kissed her face, then left a red rose in her hand.

He left the room, and Marucho came in.

"Fabia? I'm-I wish you weren't going to go. I'm sorry. You know, I've always looked up to you. You're smart and caring, sweet but deadly. If we were in the reversed order, you'd tell me everything would go all right, but I can't give that same kind of optimism. Goodbye, Fabia. Princess. We will miss you." He left the room, letting Jake go in next.

When he came in, he start bawling. "I'm gonna miss you so much! You've helped me through so much! When my sister...died...I was going through a really rough time. I even thought of quitting the Brawlers! No one knew how to help me. No one but you. When I needed help the most, you came to me and helped me get through it. You became my sister. Rosie really looked up to you, you know that? So do I. I don't know how I'm going to be able to lose another sister. I'll miss you, Fabia." He leaned over to give her one last hug, then left the room, trying to control his tears as he remembered his sister's death the year before.

Shun was brought in, supported both physically and emotionally by Ren and Dan. He was sat down in a chair, then left alone.

Shun shook, with anger and sadness, two emotions that rarely clashed this strongly for him.

He shook his head, and scooted closer to her. By this time, she didn't have the energy to keep up her human form, and was back in her Neathian form. How much he wished he could see her eyes again, in whatever form. He loved her in any form, human or Neathian.

"Fabia. I love you more than anything in this-er, any world..." He couldn't go on. The last time he could talk to her while she was still alive, and he couldn't think of anything to say. It just...didn't feel right.

"Di-Didn't you tell me once...never ever...give up..." Fabia spoke suddenly, and Shun jumped. She was one of the only people who could surprise him. She lifted her eyelids, and her eyes, still the green of emeralds and peridots, smiled at him.

"Fabia." Shun breathed. Suddenly, her entire body lit up, not only with the Haos colors, but all of the other attributes, especially the Ventus energy.

The Brawlers, who were standing outside, rushed in.

"Woah." Dan said. Fabia and Aranaut stood before them, glowing not only with the jewels from their bond, but with a mark on Fabia's wrists, and a mark on Aranaut's wrists as well, signifying the Sacred Orb. It appeared to be made out of glowing jewels. It looked as if it were yin and yang, made of the colors of the attributes.

And when the two stopped glowing, Fabia and Aranaut fell down. Shun caught Fabia, with Hawktor and Linehalt catching Aranaut. They woke up at exactly the same time. Fabia opened her eyes to see Shun smiling down at her. He whispered, "Welcome back." Her eyes widened, and then she pushed herself away from him, transforming back into her human form.

"I would like to be alone." She said strongly and forcefully.

"B-But Fabia! You-You were-I mean-" Marucho said, worried.

"Go! Now." It was the first actual order Fabia had ever given the Brawlers.

Their eyes widened, but then they left, heads down.

Ren and Shun stayed behind.

"Fabia, what's wrong?" Shun asked, confused.

"Go away! NOW!" She shouted, flinging a pillow at him-not hard enough to hurt him, but enough to surprise him.

Instead of getting the hint and leaving, Shun got angry-and hurt.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, anger rising fast.

Fabia paled as he raised his fist-not intending to hit her-and fell over.

She mumbled, distressed, in her unconscious state, "Please! Please, please stop! I can't-please!"

Shun and Ren glanced at each other, both thinking the same thing.

What had happened to her?

Shun's fists opened and closed. Then, after making sure she was in bed safely, he stormed out, Hawktor trailing him sadly.

Ren sighed, and brought his attention back to his adoptive sister. She had opened her eyes, focusing on him.

"Fabia?" She raised her head at the sound of her name.

"Why won't you let Shun be with you? What did he do wrong?" He asked, Linehalt and Aranaut watching her closely.

In return, she began to sob. Ren sighed and sat next to her, rubbing her back and holding her while she cried. He knew that he was lucky she even allowed him to see her so broken-and it worried him that she was so.


	18. Chapter 18

(five days later)

"Why? Why won't she even acknowledge me!?" Shun shouted, taking his anger out on a nearby tree.

"Uh, Shun? What did that tree ever do to you?" Hawktor asked, flinching when Shun turned his way, fire in his eyes.

Shun stalked to where Hawktor was sitting, then fell to his knees.

"Why? It's killing me." Shun whispered.

"I know, buddy. I'm sure she has her reasons. Maybe Ren knows something that we don't!" Hawktor suggested, happy when he finally saw hope in Shun's eyes.

"Maybe..." Shun said sadly.

"Fabia? Why are you pushing everyone away? Why Shun? He loves you so much-it's breaking his heart!" Ren told the Princess.

"Be-Because!" She half-sobbed.

Only Ren was allowed to see her. Everyone else had to stay outside her room.

"Because why?" He prompted her.

"Princess...I know you are upset, but explain to us why!" Aranaut said gently.

"Yeah. We won't say anything." Linehalt told the frightened girl.

It seemed that, no matter what they tried, they couldn't get rid of the gas that affected her emotional state. As soon as she pushed away Shun, her nightmares returned in full force-with a vengeance.

She would wake up screaming. Ren, who's room was put right next to hers, was the only one who could hear her-the rest of the Brawlers were in different corridors-would rush in, soothe her, then help her fall asleep. Oftentimes, he just fell asleep on a chair next to her bed. It was a small price to pay for freedom, a family, and his life, not to mention the Princess's forgiveness and trust.

"Because I'm dangerous!" Fabia exploded.

Ren blinked. Dangerous? Well, she could be if she ever wanted to be, but-she would NEVER hurt them! Fabia would die for them!

"Fabia." Ren pleaded.

"I almost murdered Shun! Me! What if it happened again-and this time, I couldn't stop that thing? It was inside me, Ren. It made me do terrible things. What if...next time...I can't stop myself before it's too late!"

Ren only sighed and stood up. There would be no convincing her.

(later that night)

"Princess? Where are you going?" Aranaut sleepily asked his best friend.

"Just...out, watching the meteor shower." She replied.

Now that he was more awake, he noticed a large bag on her shoulder.

"Princess," Aranaut began gently, "you're not going to leave, are you?"

"Yes. I'm sorry...I just..."

"I understand. That is why I will come with you!" He said, excited now.

"No, Aranaut, you're needed here. You're my best friend and I can't stand the thought of leaving you behind, but the Brawlers, my sister, the Castle Knights, need you!" She told him, tears spilling onto her cheeks.

"I...understand." He sad, bowing his head in misery.

"Thanks. I love you. Goodbye." She said, gently kissing him, then disappearing like a shadow out of the door.

Aranaut bowed his head.

"Fabia? What are you doing?" Shun asked her, approaching her cautiously. He didn't know what was going through her mind, and thought that she hated him. He could understand, though. Who would want him? But he still loved her, even if she didn't return his appreciation.

"Leaving." The cold answer shocked Shun, and he grabbed her shoulder. Too late, he remembered not to do that when she was hurt and angry.

She dropped her bag on the ground, and flipped him over her shoulder, like a rag doll, as Dan had remarked as what seemed like years ago.

He had no choice but to defend himself. Fabia was as good as him, maybe even better, at the martial arts.

They began to spar, but soon into the battle, it was clear that Fabia had no energy left. Shun suspected nightmares kept her up all night, and, judging from her unusual extreme thinness, no appetite, either.

As he began a light feint round, she fell to her knees, sobs racking her body. Shun came to her, and, as she pounded the ground with her fists, took her into his arms.

"I-I can't do it anymore!" She sobbed.

"Do what?" Shun asked her gently, with care.

"I can't pretend to hate you! It is killing me! I'm so selfish." She whispered, refusing to meet his eyes.

"You-you-so you don't hate me?" Shun asked, with excitement in his voice.

"I n-never hated y-you. I love you so much that it's killing me to be pushing you away. I'm so sorry. You deserved so much better than me."

Finally Shun saw what Aranaut meant about Fabia never seeing herself as good enough.

"No, you're wrong. I couldn't ever do any better than you. You're not selfish, either. You're the best person I've ever met." Shun told her.

"No. I'm not." Fabia said, even as exhaustion overtook her body, and she slumped against him, no energy left to resist.

"Oh, Fabia. I love you more than anything." Shun told her as he kissed her forehead, smoothing away her hair from her face.

"I-I love...you...too..." Fabia's reply was faint as she drifted off into a light sleep.

Shun sat there with her for a few more hours, finally getting up to bring her back to her chambers.

When he got there, he found Aranaut, sobbing silently, with a broken heart, at a picture of her and him together, back on Earth, smiling.

Aranaut looked up, and his expression went from a broken heart, to one filled with gratitude and joy. He was ecstatic, going in circles around them, until finally Shun laughed and said, "Hey Aranaut? She needs her Bakugan partner. She needs you to be there with her, as you always have."

Aranaut flew straight for her, curling up in her hand, which automatically closed gently around him.

Shun smiled and turned off the light.


	19. Chapter 19

(6 days later)

Everything was, once again, back to normal. Shun and Fabia spent every second they could together. In fact, they were in the rose gardens when the trouble began.

They were sitting together, quietly looking into each other's eyes, when their communicators went off.

"What is it?" Shun asked, exasperated. He was trying to put in as much time as possible with Fabia. To tell the truth, he was still afraid someone else would catch her eye, and take her away from him. Of course, he could understand if she did. Who would want him? Damaged goods, that's what he was. He didn't understand what Fabia saw in him. But, as long as she still loved him, he would make sure she was always happy. He would always be by her side.

"It's Kazarina. She's back again, trying to transport herself directly into the Castle. Sorry, dude." Dan said sympathetically. He understood how much Shun needed to be near Fabia, but he was also excited-there hadn't been a real battle in weeks!

"Ugh. That old hag." Fabia said.

"Mmm." Shun stared into her beautiful eyes, the color of emeralds, and then looked down at her necklace, her bond signature with Aranaut. It beat in time with her heartbeat and Aranaut's as well. It was stunning on her.

"Come on, slowpoke!" Fabia laughed, dancing away from him.

"Hey!" He chased after her, laughing all the way to the transporter room.

As a special treat, Fabia had transformed back into her Neathian body to be with him, signifying her trust.

Now she transformed back into her human body and her Castle Knight uniform.

They dashed into the transporter room, just as the rest of the Brawlers were stepping into the transporter beams.

"And...here they are!" Commander Elright said, laughing.

"We thought you guys weren't gonna make it!" Dan said, laughing at them.

Fabia dashed straight for him, and he ran behind Jake.

"Who, us?" She asked, pulling Shun into the transporter beam along with her.

When they got to the Gundalian Castle, the playful bantering continued.

"Did you fall asleep?" Ren asked, unable to contain his laughter at Fabia's glare.

"If you MUST know, I was giving Shun a tour of the Royal Rose Gardens." Fabia said, mock superiority in her voice.

They all burst out laughing.

A large shadow appeared on top of them. It was Airzel.

"Don't think this is a picnic!" He shouted from atop his perch on his Bakugan partner.

"I don't! It's not nice enough here! Seriously, you need a new landscaper!" Jake shouted up at him. "Go ahead, guys. Maruch and I can handle this dude. Right?"

"Yup!" Marucho shouted gleefully.

"Ok! Be careful!" Dan told them, already wheeling away, towards Kazarina's lab, the other Brawlers on his heels.

They split into two groups, Fabia and Shun peeling off to check out other areas of the imposing fortress the Gundalians called a castle, and Dan with Ren checking out the throne room area.

Halfway to Kazarina's lab, a terrible smell hit them. It was sulfur, almost, but a thousand times worse. While Fabia choked on the thick gas, Shun seemed to see something in it. He rose up, seemingly not affected by the gas, while his companions were.

"Mother?" He asked.

"Yes, dear. It's me! Come on over!" The woman who looked like his mother beckoned to him.

"Mom, I'm-I'm so h-happy to see you! I've missed you so much!" He said, tears running freely down his face.

"Sh-Shu-Shun! N-n-n-n-o! It-It's a-a tr-trick..." Fabia's voice became fainter as she fought to breathe and fell to the floor. Only she seemed extremely affected.

"That's right, dearie. It is specifically designed to target you. Soon you will die of suffocation, and then I will keep Shun here, entranced by the vision of his dear mother, and see what makes him so much different than us." Kazarina cackled.

"Shun!" Fabia yelled, then started choking.

"Princess...Save your strength." Aranaut told her.

Not heeding his advice, she started pulling herself closer to Shun, trying to snap him out of it. Halfway there, though, she fainted, and almost stopped breathing entirely.

"Hawktor, you go get Shun-try to snap him out of...whatever this is. I will stay with the Princess...ensure that, if she does...pass...she will have company." Aranaut told the Bakugan , who looked at him.

Aranaut really thought they weren't going to get out of this one? Well, he had to try anyway.

"Ok." Hawktor nodded and flew towards Shun.

When Shun saw him, he smiled widely and said, "Mom, this is Hawktor, my Bakugan partner. Hawktor, meet my mother."

Hawktor wasn't sure what to say. "Um, hello. It's-uh-very nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Oh, you too!" The thing that looked like Shun said.

"Shun! Shun! Fabia is DYING! This isn't real! Your mother-she isn't really here! I-I'm sorry. We need to get out of here." Hawktor told Shun quietly, whispering to him.

"Wh-What? Hawktor, that's crazy talk. Here's my mom. I've waited for her...NO! You aren't right! This has to be real! You're LYING!" He shouted, sinking to the ground with his head in his hands.

"Shun? What's wrong?" The thing came forward again.

"I have to know. I'm so sorry, Mom." Shun kicked at her, and his foot went right through her, as though she was made of...mist.

Mist...gas...Fabia!

"Fabia!" Shun shouted, breaking out of the spell.

She was lying on the ground, Aranaut next to her, barely breathing. But, as she always did, she gave him a smile and said, "I...knew...you could...do...it."

Shun picked her up, again startled at how little she actually weighed, and took off, trying to clear her body and mind of the gas.

"Hawktor?"The boy said quietly.

"Yes, Shun?"

"Thank you. I never would have been able to forgive myself if she died. If I had been able to free myself."

"Your welcome. We're partners, right? That's what friends do for each other." Hawktor told him.

Shun looked ashamed, and was quiet the rest of the time it took to meet up with Dan and Ren.

When they got there, Shun lay her down, head resting on a large boulder, while Ren checked her pulse.

"All right. She's coming back, but I'd like to run a full diagnostic on her when we get back. She should be coming back right around...Now." As he spoke the words, the girl opened her eyes.

Immediately she jumped into a defensive maneuver.

"Sssshhhh. It's ok." Shun said, smiling at her, which reached his eyes.

"Ugh. That stuff was...terrible!" Fabia said, and shivered.

"All right, let's get out of here! Jake and Marucho are already off this planet. Let's go home." Ren said.

They looked at him. He sighed.

"Yes, although I may have been born here, Neathia is my true home."

Fabia smiled and grabbed his hand.

"I'm glad you think so."

"Me too." Ren smiled, then frowned at her.

"What am I thinking? You should be carried back!" He winked at Shun, who blushed and picked her up, her protesting all the way.

"Seriously, I'm fine! No! Stop it! Shun, put me down this INSTANT!"

"No, Ren is right, Princess. You should be carried." Aranaut gave Shun a look of amusement.

Ignoring her indignant cries, Shun, who would love to carry her to the end of the world-er, worlds, kept moving

Dan and Ren laughed at her, then quickly stopped when they saw murder in her eyes.

When they got there, Fabia was checked over by a doctor quickly, then joined the group again.

When she got there, she was met with solemn faces.

"What's wrong?" She asked, anxious. Even Dan had a serious face on.

"Well, Princess Fabia, the thing is..." Commander Elright looked down at the table, refusing to keep going.

"The thing is what?" She asked.

"Well," Began Linus, "The thing is, that...you'll need to fight the Gundalian horde that is about to attack Neathia in one month!" He said in a rush.

Fabia felt her head spinning, and the room spun around her.

Before she could fall, Aranaut warned, "Shun!?"

"I've got her." The ninja caught her halfway to the floor.

From his arms, she said, slowly, "I need to WHAT?"

"According to Elright," Dan said, shooting the person mentioned a glare, "None of us have enough power to defeat them-Kazarina has...mutated them somehow, made them stronger."

"Oh-k?" Fabia breathed.

"Fabia, if you don't want too, we all understand. We will fight!" Shun told her.

"No! I-I WON'T put you in danger if I don't have too! Aranaut and I, we can take care of this!" She said to them, standing tall. But they could see the sacrifice in her eyes.

"Yes. The Princess and I can and will take care of the invaders." Aranaut said.

The two exchanged a look.

Another side affect of the link the two shared was the ability to talk to each other through their minds.

'Princess?' Aranaut asked silently.

'Yes, Aranaut?' Fabia replied.

'We won't...make it through this, will we?'

'No.'

Aranaut bowed his head.

Fabia said brightly, "Well! We'd better start training, now shouldn't we?"

They walked out of the room, maintaining a cover face while still there. When outside of the room, however, Fabia took off, running somewhere. She didn't know where she was going, but she needed to get it out of her system.

Inside the room, the people, human, Neathian, and Gundalian, looked defeated as they heard the footsteps recede, knowing what they were asking of her.

Hours later, when she finally collapsed from exhaustion-she hadn't stopped running for five hours straight-she looked up, and tears came into her eyes.

It was Jin's tomb.

"Jin! Oh, Jin. Why did you have to leave me?" She pulled her knees up to her chest on the cold stone steps.

Aranaut, unbeknownst to her, had flown off to get Shun. He saw the fear gas in her eyes again.

When Shun got there, it was dark. It was ten degrees outside.

"Fabia?" He whispered loudly.

"Sh-Sh-Shun?" He nearly fell over her.

As he shined a flashlight on her, Fabia winced and looked away.

"Fabia." He murmured.

She was blue-her human skin was blue, and her teeth were chattering.

He didn't think he could move her very far, and he doubted she would let him take her to the infirmary again.

So he brought her to a nearby cave, set up a fire and watched over her as she slept. Hawktor told him, "Sleep, Shun. I'll take a shift watching you guys."

"As will I." Aranaut said.

The next morning, Shun was woken up by a strange glowing.

"Wh-what is that?" He muttered, but then his eyes widened.

Around his neck was a necklace, in the shape of feathers, made seemingly out of gems, green, and yellow, white and brown, and even a hint of red. Shun looked at Hawktor and saw the same thing on him, except outlined on the tips of his feathers.

"Woah." He started gasping, nearly tripping over the sleeping Fabia, who woke up startled, but didn't have the energy to go into a self-defense position.

"Shun!? What's wrong?" She crawled to where he landed, shaking him weakly, trying to snap him out of it.

"I-I think..." He gasped, "I think Hawktor and I just bonded."

Fabia froze.


	20. Chapter 20

Fabia snapped out of it, and jumped onto him, laughing and crying all at once. Aranaut pulled her off of him, laughing as well.

"What's so funny?" Shun asked, confused and amused.

"I-We're not alone! You-You will fight with us, right? Of course, I understand if you don't..." Fabia turned away, but Shun caught her chin.

He turned it so her eyes were level with his, and then he began to speak.

"Fabia, love, of course I will! I would never send you out there alone!" He told her firmly.

He leaned in to kiss her, and she pulled him into a longer one.

Finally, after watching them kiss for a while, Aranaut got slightly protective. He harrumphed.

They broke apart, Fabia's eyes twinkling like diamonds, and Shun's slightly embarrassed, but also glazed over with dreaminess.

Shun looked at Hawktor, who winked at him. He blushed and looked at Fabia. She was staring at him intensely.

"What's wrong?" Shun asked sheepishly.

"It's you." Fabia said sadly.

"Me? What are you talking about, Fabia?" Shun asked, upset with himself for whatever he did.

Hawktor and Aranaut flew off to give them some space.

"Why do you keep putting your life at risk for me? I'm not valuable at all. Why do you keep coming back for me?" She asked, knees drawn up to her chest in a protective position.

"Fabia. You know the answer to that." Shun told her. "Because I love you."

Fabia blushed and looked away. Shun took her chin in his hands, and leaned forward to kiss her. As they did that, the necklaces on them pulsed faster and faster, brighter and brighter, until there was an explosion of light.

They were blown apart, to opposite sides of the cave.

Shun got lucky. He was just tossed ten feet in the air and dropped straight down. He managed to combat that, landing on both feet gracefully, absorbing the shock.

Fabia wasn't so lucky. Before she could do anything, she was hurled into a rock wall. Shun heard the sound of bones crunching. He heard her scream, once, then...nothing.

Shun ran to her side, as the Bakugan slowly picked themselves up off the ground.

"Fabia! Fabia, answer me! Are you okay?" Shun asked desperately.

There was no response. She wasn't even breathing.

Shun touched the emergency transport button on his communicator, grabbing the Bakugan, and transporting back to the palace.

Once there, he sprinted past the surprised Brawlers, and headed towards the medical room.

He shoved Fabia in the doctors' hands, yelling, "Make her live, or I will kill you!"

The doctors swallowed, then got to work.

After two hours of waiting, and filling in the rest of the Brawlers, Shun was allowed in.

Fabia was waiting for him. The girl looked awful. She had stitches up the side of her face, and patches of tape everywhere. She managed to smile, though.

Shun beamed, then glared at the doctor who was still in the room. The doctor, getting the message, backed out of the door, slowly.

Shun ran to Fabia's side, picking up one of her hands. He noticed she winced, and he turned over her hand.

There was a huge cut, covered by some cream and tape.

He dropped her hand immediately. His hands fluttered over her body, trying to find a safe place for him to comfort. He finally decided on the side of her face that didn't have stitches.

Fabia smiled, and her eyes fluttered shut.

Shun dragged up a chair next to her bed. They fell asleep like that.

The next morning, Shun felt a little sick, but he brushed it off as a side effect of not eating much the day before.

He changed his perspective after he stood up, waking up Fabia. The world tilted and fell in front of his eyes.

Fabia shouted in alarm. "Shun! Are you okay?"

She struggled to get up, forcing herself to put weight on her badly sprained ankle, biting her wrist when the pain overtook her.

She limped as fast as she could to Shun, and pulled him up, ignoring the searing pain in her hands and back.

Fabia called a doctor as Shun tried to catch his breath.

They rushed in.

"Princess Fabia, what's the matter?"

The Brawlers skidded in as well.

"Shun, what's-Fabia?" Their heads whipped to the doctors, to Shun, then to Fabia.

"I don't know. He stood up, and he passed out..."

The doctor started to examine Shun. Finally, when the Brawlers' attention wasn't dominated by Shun, they noticed Fabia. She looked like she was in extreme pain. In classic Fabia style, she had hidden most of it...but that much pain, you can't hide...Ren sped over to her and let her lean against him. Jake picked her up easily and put her into a comfortable chair.

"Fabia! You shouldn't be walking around! In fact, come to mention it, how are you standing up at all?" Dan exclaimed.

"I'm sharing my power with Aranaut. Well, more than usual."

Linehalt and Drago noticed Aranaut on Fabia's shoulder, looking a little bit weak.

Fabia looked upset. "I'm sorry, Aranaut. I didn't think about what would happen if I did."

"Don't worry, Princess. I'm fine. Besides, we share the pain either way. We always do."

But he didn't look fine. And neither did she.

The Brawlers exchanged worried looks. They left Ren with Fabia, the rest asking the doctor what was wrong.

Ren sat her down, and sat next to her. To his surprise, she hugged him tightly, and started to shake, tears silently streaming down her face.

Dan looked over. Ren shook his head, and motioned for them to leave.

He nodded, and led the others out.

Ren hugged her back, just as tight, and let her cry as much as she needed.

When she couldn't cry any more, Ren looked at her. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot, she looked pale, and she was in her Neathian form. Because she was with the Brawlers, he knew it was because she didn't have enough strength to hold it up.

Her eyes were sparkling with tears she couldn't shed.

Ren soothed her, picked her up, and lay down next to her. She put her head on his lap, and fell asleep quickly.

Ren sighed.

He stroked her hair, almost mindlessly. She reminded him of his family, before he had to take care of Linehalt. They had been relatively...happy, considering their place. His people, the ones who took care of the Dark Bakugan, were once honored and celebrated. Now they were scorned and hated, even forced into slavery.

Once he had had a little sister. Her name had been Arylla. The light-bringer. She had been murdered. One day, he had forced her out of his room, and locked her outside, because she had taken his toy.

They found her. They murdered her. He found her, cold and motionless, on the steps of his house. He never forgave himself.

He had never told anyone, even Linehalt, what had happened. He thought maybe he could talk to Fabia, because she understood pain. She knew what it was like to have your heart ripped out of your chest, then sewed back in, to feel so guilty you want to kill yourself and be done with it. She knew how hard it was to resist giving in to the darkness.

An irony, Ren thought, considering he was a Darkus Brawler. But even the Dark has Light.

But he didn't give in. That would have meant losing. And Barodius would haunt him forever, gloating. Once he had thought Gundalia was his home. No longer.

He saw now how much the Princess had suffered, even at his own hands, and he shuddered. No one would ever hurt her again, he would make sure of that.

While she slept, a pair of nurses came in and motioned for him to put her on a bed. He picked her up, startled at how light she was, and lay her down gently. Still, she winced in her sleep.

They slipped a needle under her skin, and Ren looked away. He wasn't the biggest fan of needles. They were too closely related to knives.

They attached it to a bag hanging up, and Ren stepped forward to read what it said. When he didn't understand what it said, he cocked an eyebrow at one of them.

She said quietly, "This is so the Princess and her Bakugan will sleep. Then we can put them into a medically-induced healing coma. If she does not move, we can heal her injuries-and Aranaut's-much faster. Less stress on her body."

Ren smiled his thanks, and she blushed. The two of them bowed, and hurried away.

Ren leaned over, kissed Fabia on the forehead, said goodbye to Aranaut, who was falling asleep rather quickly, and left with Linehalt.

As soon as they were out of the room, Linehalt said mournfully, "Why does this happen to them?"

Ren came to a sudden stop, and Linehalt almost came flying off of his shoulder. Looking up at him, he saw Ren shaking and tears glistening in his eyes.

He whispered, "Arylla.", and collapsed.

Linehalt shouted, "Ren!", before collapsing as well.

The Brawlers came running.

Dan skidded to a stop. Ren was on the floor, losing consciousness fast. The last thing he remembered was Dan shaking him, telling him, "Stay with me, buddy. Stay with me."

Ren saw his little sister, playing in the fields of Gundalia before the war. Unlike most Gundalians, her true form was beautiful. Ren let go of his grasp on reality, and went to join her.

Linehalt was there, too, with another Bakugan.

They were smiling, and Linehalt looked truly...happy. Like another part of him that had been lost was found again.

Ren supposed he looked like that, too. There was no one in the world that he loved more than Arylla. His little sister. The one who had always looked up to him, hugged him when he was sad, and he would do anything for her.

For a moment, he hesitated, unsure she would forgive him.

But Arylla turned, and ran towards him, screaming with joy. Her eyes were full of adoration as he picked her up and twirled her again and again. He got dizzy, and toppled over. They laughed together.

He could hear Dan's voice trying to call him back, but he didn't want to go. This was the happiest he had been since Arylla died. Since his heart had been shattered.

Dan shouted, shaking him, "Ren! Wake up, buddy!".

Ren didn't budge.

Jake grabbed him by the hand and forced Dan to look at him.

"Dan The Man, this is no time for freaking out. We need you. What should we do?"

Dan looked at the two Brawlers left on his team. Marucho, still a kid, looked scared, and Jake looked even worse.

They were right. He needed to take care of them as much as they had taken care of him.

He took a deep breath, then started to issue out orders.

"Jake, you bring him to the med lab. Marucho, I'm going to need you to take a blood sample from all three of them, and find out what's going on. You can ask a nurse to draw the blood. I'm going to talk to Elright, and see what we can do about fooling the Gundalians into believing we're just as strong as ever. Now go!"


	21. Chapter 21

They jumped into action, and went off to do their own separate missions.

Dan felt a little light-headed, but he brushed it off. Drago saw him stagger, and warned him, "Daniel. Are you not feeling well?"

Dan replied with his signature smirk, although a little bit forced, "I'm fine. See?"

Drago grumbled a little bit, but let it pass.

When he reached Elright, the commander turned his glare on him.

"What. Is going. On?" He demanded.

Dan took a step back. "Woah, man, we know just as much as you do. There's no need for shouting."

Elright took a deep breath, and smiled at Dan. "I'm sorry. But my officers are dropping like flies."

Just then, Linus came running up. His face was nearly absent of any color. But he gritted his teeth and reported to the commander, "Ten more men are down, outside of Castle Walls. They're sitting ducks out there!"

Elright nodded, and told him, "Linus, you look like you're about to pass out. Go to the infirmary."

Linus shook his head. "I'm sorry, Commander, but I will not obey that order. We can't afford to have me out. I'll keep going until I drop."

Elright put his hand on his shoulders, and wished him luck.

Then he turned back to Dan, still watching the retreating form of his protege.

"Almost half of the people under my care are in comas...or worse..." Elright looked down, anguished as he thought of all the brave women and men whom he had come to care for, dying.

"We're lucky. No one has died...yet."

Dan nodded, and asked, "What can we do about keeping appearances on the front and in the city? We can't have a mass panic."

Elright looked him in eye, and asked, "Marucho is good with technology, right?"

Dan nodded, and asked, "Why?"

He grinned. "We're going to play a decoy. Like the one a few months ago, only on a mass scale. We're talking about hundreds of thousands of them. The biggest global takeover ever!"

Dan swallowed. Then, he felt something rise in him. It was hope, and it burned brighter than the brightest star.

Drago felt it too. They were connected, for the first time in their lives. Elright backed off as they started to glow.

An explosion of light, with fire racing up the column of light, came from the two. Then, when it was all over, Elright dove to catch the two.

He shook Dan awake, and when he awoke, Drago instantaneously followed. They were that closely bonded.

"Wh-What just happened?" Dan asked, his red-brown eyes clearing up.

"You-You just bonded." Elright's voice broke as he stared at the two in awe.

Around Dan's neck was a necklace. It looked almost like a choker, how it circled his neck multiple times, almost climbing up it. It looked as if it was made out of fire. Fire in colors no being had ever seen before. Green, blue, black, even purple.

On Drago, outlining his wings and his head, almost like a crown, was the same thing. It looked as if it were made of crystal, but when Drago shook his massive head, it proved to be made out of something stronger than any material any non-mystical being could make.

Dan felt a surge of energy in him, and he jumped up, flying. Drago just looked at him. Elright nearly fell over.

Then he realized what was happening, and the shock broke through his concentration, and he dropped. Drago extended a hand before he could crash three-hundred feet.

"Thanks, buddy." Dan breathed. He was nearly hyperventilating.

"Daniel." Drago said sternly. "Breathe. Slowly."

Dan did what he was told, then caught his breath, and sat down on his partner's hand.

"You ok?" Drago asked, eyeing him cautiously.

"Yep. You?" Dan asked, still not looking at him.

"Just fine." Drago chuckled.

Dan laughed, too, as if were the funniest thing in the world, and couldn't stop.

He was hysterical.

Drago placed him on the ground, then went into his ball form.

Elright had ahold of him, and was shaking him sharply.

"Dan! You can't lose it. Snap out of it! This is your commander speaking. I order you to snap out of it!"

Dan stopped laughing, and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Sorry. It's just.."

"Yes. I know. We didn't know that could happen. With Linus, days before he left for Earth, he achieved his bond with Neo. Fabia and Shun probably haven't been able to develop all of the abilities yet because of constant stress and strain on their minds." Elright looked at the ground, grinding his teeth.

"Dan. I'm going to ask you a very strange question. At least, it is for you Earthlings. Do you date anyone?"

Dan flushed and stammered, "W-Well-Can you please tell me why you need to know THAT?"

"Well, you might need to have feelings strong enough and developed enough to create the bond. A strong love for someone might just do the trick, tipping the balance." Elright told him.

"Um, sort..of?" Dan blushed and muttered.

Elright smirked and nodded.

That's when two Castle Knight officers came rushing by, carrying someone on a stretcher.

It was Linus. He was paler than in his human form, and his arm fell over the side. Rubanoid was with him, passed out as well.

"Oh no." Elright murmured, watching them pass by, carrying him to the infirmary.

"I'll ask Marucho. Go take care of Linus."

Dan knew how much Linus meant to him. Linus had lost all of his family when he was a child, and Elright had taken care of him, just like a brother would. In fact, Elright had once had a brother, who had died at a young age from a disease.

Elright nodded his thanks, and caught up to the stretcher.

"Drago?"

Drago looked up at the boy, as he said, "Yes?"

Dan was nearly crying now. "Why does it always happen to good people?"

Drago replied, "I don't know."

When Dan walked into one of the meeting rooms where Jake and Marucho were waiting for him.

They looked up with nervous eyes. He eyed them as he walked slowly to sit down.

Jake's fingers were bleeding from practicing throwing weights, trying to make up for the lost members of the team.

Marucho looked just as bad. His face was white and the bags under his eyes were nearly black.

Dan sat down, and got right to the point. "I'm not going to lie to you guys. It's bad. Really bad. Linus is down."

They gasped.

Dan held up a hand before either could say anything. "But, we need to focus on getting them better and keeping up the appearance of being fortified."

"Just how many Castle Knights are down?" Jake asked.

Dan sighed and told them the only thing he could...the truth. "About half of them are down."

Marucho gripped the table. "I can't make any sense of the blood samples taken. It seems to be a virus, but not a normal one. It targets the white blood cells, then takes over the red blood cells. Soon, even their brains will be taken over! They won't be themselves. They will be controlled by...whatever it is that started it. But," and Marucho paused, not believing the data entirely himself. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't.

"It looks like..like the virus was started in Fabia's body. So she is the transmitter. Everyone else is susceptible to it. Including us."

Dan lifted up his head, and both of the remaining Brawlers gaped at him.

"What?"

"Your neck. It has a...did you bond with Drago?" Jake asked excitedly.

It lifted Dan's spirits to hear him have life in his voice. Jake had been so heartbroken the past few days.

"Yup!" He said brightly. To prove it, Drago came out of his pocket.

Awkwimos and Coredom came out sluggishly.

They stared dumbly, then shook themselves out of it.

"Woah!" They circled them.

"All right." Dan laughed, then immediately stopped. The sound was so strange to his ears. Then he laughed again, and they joined in. It was too good to be true.

None of them could stop. It was too nice.

Finally, after they had finished, Dan got businesslike. "All right. Marucho, can you make...hundreds...thousands...of Castle Knights?"

Marucho thought about it, then nodded. "I think I can!"

Dan grinned, then turned to Jake.

"Jake, get your hands checked out. Then, could you make sure Fabia, Ren and Shun are ok?"

He knew how much it was bothering the Brawler. He was the most sensitive to all of them.

Jake smiled and nodded quickly, as if he was afraid Dan would change his mind.

Dan took a breath, then shouted, grinning, "Brawlers, let's go!"

Marucho headed to computer control room, then created a computer program that would create hundreds of avatars, all slightly different, even with their own fingerprints. They looked and felt completely real.

He sighed and wiped his head as the computer made more of them, sending them out onto all fronts. They could even battle, with only slightly less power than a real Castle Knight. They each had their own unique voice, but Marucho or someone would have to decide when to engage in battle or not. It was time-consuming and exhausting.

He reached for a glass of water, then noticed his vision getting blurry. Frowning, he stood up, then tipped over.

Awkwimos tried to fly to him, but the darkness overtook him before he reached his best friend.

Dan was in his quarters, trying to stay awake. he knew he had only moments before the virus took over, and he pressed a button to let someone know he was down. Just before it made his eyes close for what might be the last time, his fingers touched it. An alarm went off, and he smiled, then fell headfirst into the bleakness of empty space.

Jake had a doctor checking over his hands. He hardly noticed as he pulled rock shards out of his shredded hands. He was too busy staring at his friends.

Fabia was pale as death itself, Shun was twitching and muttering, and Ren was completely still.

As the doctor finished bandaging his hands, Jake stood up and thanked him. An alarm went off and Castle Knights came in carrying Dan.

Jake fell down, saved from hitting the ground by a quick-thinking doctor, and shakily pulled himself back up.

"Not Dan, too!" He shouted.

They looked at him sympathetically.

Dan's face was red and sweaty. He had a fever, but he was shivering.

Coredom shouted at Jake, "Snap out of it! We need you, Jake!"

Jake broke through the sluggish haze in his mind. He said to Coredom, "Thanks. It almost got me there."

Fear kept his mind sharp and quick, free of the polluting virus.

Coredom replied, "Any time."

Fabia groaned as she woke up. She stretched, then immediately regretted it. Her body felt like it had been hit with a boulder, which, essentially, it had.

Her eyes fluttered open, and so did Aranaut's.

When she opened them, she saw Jake sitting next to her, sobbing.

She asked hoarsely, "Jake, what's wrong?"

His eyes flew open, and he grabbed her hand, then winced.

She noticed he had bandages all over his hands, and she got worried.

"Jake, what happened to your hands?"

He said, tears of joy running down his face, "I was training to get stronger, lifting the heaviest rocks I could find, and I didn't notice they were getting cut up."

Fabia sighed and looked at him disapprovingly. Jake almost fainted. He was so happy she was awake and ok, he could have sung. He had missed her look of, 'you better take care of yourself, little brother!'

Then her look grew into one of horror as she saw the other Brawlers lying on the beds. Shun. Ren. Marucho. Dan.

She struggled to get up, Jake helping her nervously, and told him urgently, "I need to get out of here. This is my fault. The thing that was inside of me and made me stab Shun, it's come back, only in another form. In the virus. It will kill their minds and make them slaves. I've already had it, so I can't be affected by it."

"Like chicken pox?" Jake asked, cocking his head.

Fabia smiled. "Yes, much like the chicken pox."

"Then why aren't I affected?" Jake asked.

"I'm not sure. It's an air-borne disease, and the Brawlers and Bakugan who fly in the air or use the air to do special moves are most affected. Subterra Brawlers and Bakugan use the ground, which acts as a sort of shield. I'm not sure how long it will last, though. That's why I'm going to find a cure."

Jake stumbled as she walked faster and faster. "Wh-What? You're leaving? What about the rest of us? How will you survive?"

Fabia swallowed her pain, looked him in the eye, and tried to sound confident as she told him, "I'm a warrior, trained for years in all of the fighting arts known to my people. I can handle this. I'll be back, but only when I find a cure."

Jake blanched, and grabbed her by the shoulders. Fabia's eyes opened wide. She thought he was going to shake her, and got ready, but instead he pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.

"Please don't go. If you go, then who will be with me?" Jake sobbed.

She understood what he meant. The Brawlers, the family he could rely on to be there for him, weren't. It was just like when his sister was killed. No one was there for him, because they were suffering just the same. Then the Brawlers, his friends, came in and saved him from the crushing depression.

Fabia especially. She had been another sister to him, another Audree.

She had been there when he needed a sister. The Brawlers tried to help as much as they could, but none of them understood pain the way he did-or, if they did, they couldn't understand the way he dealt with it. Fabia had been through it so many times that she understood every form of it.

Jake's way was pushing himself to his limits, even past them. While the Brawlers tried to talk him out of it, Fabia was right by him, doing everything he was doing. She understood how he needed the release, to exhaust himself so much that he didn't think about her. She encouraged him and even made him laugh, the way Aubree once did.

They had watched the both of them work past the point of exhaustion, to the point of passing out, then laugh about it. Dan would scratch his head, and Marucho would look at them, befuddled.

Though Shun and Ren understood why he needed it, they couldn't deal with his pain and theirs. More often than not, they were watching from the sidelines, making sure that Jake and Fabia were ok, then taking off.

Ren's way of dealing with it was bottling it up until it exploded.

Shun's way was becoming cold and emotionless. Until Fabia came into his life, that is. He still couldn't deal with his mother's death, though.

Jake looked at her one last time, burning her face into his memory, then let her go. She hugged him quickly, tightly, pecked him on the cheek, and then she was gone.

He hung his head and trudged back to the infirmary.

Fabia grabbed a bag that fit snugly to her shoulders, was lightweight, waterproof, and could carry multiple items without ripping.

She filled a water bottle, a large one, brought some iodine, some material for snares, non-perishable food items, a sleeping bag, a sort of gun, with many different launching things such as a grappling hook, a zip-line, and it even carried a pocket knife in the side of it.

A change of warm clothing, lightweight but warm, and a change of cool clothing, and she was all set.

Aranaut snuck into her bag when she wasn't looking, and made sure he wasn't seen. He smiled as he settled down for the ride.

'Princess, you should know better than to sneak away from me!' He thought.

When she reached the transporter room, guards blocked her way.

'Someone must have reported me getting out of bed. They probably think I've got something controlling me.', She thought, sadly noting how much things had changed from the year before.

Therefore, she whispered, "I am so sorry!", as she took five of them down single-handedly.

She entered the coordinates that somehow she knew, and pressed the button. Elright came rushing into the room just as she blurred out of sight.

"Good luck, Princess." He whispered, then pressed the button to put a shield around the castle to keep the rest of Neathia safe from the crippling virus, which was growing too quickly to control.

He stood there for a moment; two hands came out and grabbed his feet, pulling him into the darkness.

He shouted once, before a cloth with a sweet-smelling liquid covered his face and he stumbled into darkness.

Shun woke up. His first sight was Dan, Ren, and Jake leaning over him. He reacted harshly, trying to scramble up and away.

They breathed, looking a little bit relieved.

Shun immediately sensed something was amiss. Jake was frowning and his eyes were red. Ren was subdued and depressed. Dan had no spark in his eyes. Marucho wasn't there. Fabia...where was Fabia?

He twisted his neck around to search for them, and Dan moved his head slightly. "They're not here."

Shun couldn't speak, what was going on?

"Marucho is in the hospital, dying. Fabia...is gone..." Jake had kept his promise not to tell anyone where she went.

Shun stopped breathing. What did they mean, she was gone? He sat up, and looked to see if this was a cruel prank played on him. He could handle that. But, Fabia...dead?

No.

The truth hit Shun's body before it hit his mind. He convulsed, as if a giant fist had gone into his stomach, and struggled to breathe. Then, he realized what it meant. No. No.

"NO!" Jake backed up, startled, but Dan and Ren didn't even look up. Then he realized they were used to this.

"How long have I been out?" No one answered.

He repeated his question. "I asked, how long have I been out?"

"Three weeks."

Shun choked.

"Why?"

"There's a virus going around. It started when the thing that was inside of Fabia tried to kill you and failed. It made itself into a virus. It's killing half of the Castle Knights right now as we speak. It's killing Marucho, too." Ren stated emotionlessly.

"What about the other half?" Shun asked, becoming less and less hopeful as the moments dragged on.

"We are all infected, including you. It's only a matter of time before the entire Royal Castle is dead. Then, when the shields fail, all of Neathia is doomed. Linus is almost gone. He will die within the next two weeks. It isn't a possibility or probability. It will happen." Shun had never heard Jake sound so serious.

"Oh no." Shun heard himself whisper, and then the world spun.

He forced himself not to pass out or show any weakness.

They needed him. So he gritted his teeth, and moved one leg at a time off of the bed. This got a reaction out of them.

Ren stood up, and told him, "You shouldn't be getting out of bed yet. You'll hurt yourself."

Shun ignored him as he stood up, then almost immediately collapsed. He caught himself on the edge of the bed, and trying to forget the pain that shot through his hand as it hit solid metal, pushed his body up.

Jake sighed and picked him up, and set him back on the bed. Shun hopped off again. This time, he coaxed more strength out of his unused muscles, and got them working again.

He walked halfway across the room, and asked, "Where's Hawktor?"

"He's been asleep with you. Remember, you're bonded. Whatever happens to you, happens to him. In fact, he should be waking up any second now." Dan gestured half-heartedly towards a box overflowing with velvets, silks, and other thick, comfortable fabrics. It looked almost like a...nest. In the center was a bright green object, only a bit larger than a marble. At first, it looked like plastic, but then you could see it was made out of a shiny stone that pulsed around the edges.

Shun realized it was Hawktor. The marble stretched and yawned.

"Hawktor!" He shouted, and grabbed him, holding him tightly. He had never been so happy to see someone in his life.

Hawktor only managed a confused, "Huh!?", before he was snatched up.

When he saw it was Shun, he relaxed a little bit.

"Shun, what in the world-er, worlds-is wrong?"Hawktor asked, yawning.

Shun just shook, and the fist around him closed. Hawktor shouted in alarm, and Shun realized he was crushing him.

He apologized profusely. "I am so sorry, Hawktor. It's just..."

Shun fell over as a sudden pain attacked his heart. He gasped for breath as he curled into a ball. It couldn't be true. Fabia was gone.

He passed out, not being able to breathe, and gave in willingly. Fabia was gone. What point was there to him living?

"Shun! Shun, buddy! Get UP!" Dan was shouting at him.

Shun looked at Dan, and his eyes met his. They said, 'I will die right here.'

Dan became angry. "What's your problem? You know what? You're being selfish! What happened to the friend I knew? The Shun that was brave and incredibly strong? Selfless, kind and caring? He's probably gone."

Dan snorted with disgust and was about to leave when a hand grabbed his arm. He jumped. Shun was right next to him. Somehow he had slid out of bed and next to Dan within a second.

"I'm-I'm sorry. It's just..." Shun pressed his lips together and tried to keep the tears from falling.

Dan's face softened. "You know, we miss her too."

Shun shook with the effort of not sobbing.

Dan sat him down on the bed, gave him a quick brother-like hug, and left him alone. As much as Shun needed someone to be with, he needed to be alone more.

Once alone, Shun gave up. He let the tears roll down his face in rivers. He let himself be racked with sobs, and let the pain invade his mine. It lurked there like a virus, in his head.

Hawktor watched helplessly as he too felt the desperation. The connection between the two was so strong they could feel the emotions the other felt.

Shun sat there for hours, just crying, sobs racking his body. He couldn't remember ever crying this hard. He had lost everyone he loved. His life was over.

Someone knocked on the door.

Shun didn't bother answering.

"Shun?" It was Ren.

Shun didn't answer him.

"I'm coming in." Ren opened the door.

His eye widened as he took in the scene. Hawktor was floating in mid-air, watching Shun, Shun was on the bed, sobbing silently, and the rest of the room was destroyed. There were gouges in the walls, and glass everywhere. Shun's hands were bleeding at an alarming rate. Ren left the room to get some supplies.

When he got back, Shun hadn't moved.

Ren sat next to him and pried his hands open. There was too much blood to see what the injuries originated from. So he started to clean them off with a special solution. Once the blood was mostly gone, Ren looked at the hands again. There were cuts everywhere, not from glass, but from the cement of the walls. Somehow Shun had managed to take out an entire wall with his bare hands.

Ren didn't know whether to be scared or impressed.

He bandaged them so thickly it looked like Shun had baseball mitts for hands.

Then Ren got Shun up and off the bed, made it, then put Shun back under the covers. When Shun finally stopped sobbing, he looked up at Ren, no light visible in his eyes.

Ren tried to smile at him. He prepared an injection. Ren found a vein on his arm and pushed the syringe in. Immediately, Shun's eyes closed.

The formula would keep him asleep for hours, and allow his brain to give him good dreams, and forget about the bad things.

Ren only hoped it worked. Because if it didn't, all hope was lost for Shun and for Neathia.

On the foreign planet, fabia was searching for something. Anything that could cure Shun and her friends.

It had been three weeks. Her clothes were torn, ripped, and filthy.

She was scratched, thin, and gaunt.

After three weeks in a jungle with plants worse than on Neathia, she had lost thirty pounds, and was steadily losing more.

Aranaut tried to convince her to rest, trying to get her to rest so she wouldn't die.

It terrified him to watch her die so quickly.

She refused to stop moving, going until she dropped. Even then, she would crawl until she couldn't go any farther. She didn't know exactly where she was going, but her body seemed to know. She trusted it. She had to.

Even with rationing, her food had long since run out. She had been lucky in the fact that there was plenty of water. But there was a strange absence of animals as well.

She had gotten no sleep in the three weeks. She couldn't. Every time she drifted off, something huge would rustle in the trees above her. She was afraid to stop and knew she couldn't stop the creature.

She wouldn't allow Aranaut to come out of ball form-although Bakugan liked to eat and drink, they didn't need to.

Even if she wasn't able to, Fabia wanted Aranaut to have a chance of getting off the cursed planet.

Fabia moved onward, putting one foot in front of the other, as quickly as she could. When she first got onto the planet, she moved about sixty miles in a twenty-four hour period. Now, she was lucky to make twelve.

Moving was excruciatingly painful, but she had to keep on going. Fabia tripped on a root, and tumbled head over heels into a ditch.

She tried to stand up, but her legs gave out. Aranaut tried to convince her to stop, pleading with her, "Princess. You cannot go on this way."

She ignored him, clawing at the ground to pull herself forwards.


	22. Chapter 22

Back on Neathia two months later

"Shun! You need to stop this-right now!" Dan yelled at him from down below.

Shun had gone crazy. He had done everything possible he could think of to find Fabia-he still didn't believe she was dead. It was impossible. Unthinkable.

He was throwing hundreds of pounds of solid rock off the Castle Walls. Why? Dan wasn't so sure. Hawktor had followed suit. The virus was taking over both of their minds.

Then Dan saw the unmistakable flash of red in his friends' eyes.

"Shun-fight it! Fight for your life!" Dan screamed at him

Shun-the thing controlling Shun leered at him with red eyes. Then he blinked, and Shun's golden eyes returned.

He started to fall off of the tower, over three-hundred feet up, and Hawktor fell with him.

"Drago!" Dan shouted, eyes on the falling Shun.

"On it!" Drago told him, extending out into his full form.

He flew toward them as fast as he could, stretching out his hand.

He couldn't make it. They were too far away.

.Dan screamed as he watched his friend fall, down, down, down, towards the hard, unforgiving ground.

Then he heard a shout. A small, thin, quick person, appeared out of nowhere, and dove after him, straight off the walls without hesitation.

Dan fell to his knees, weak. He had never seen this before. Two people going off walls in one day. Drago picked him up, worried.

Dan gave him a weak look, like, 'Am I imagining this? Please tell me I am.'

Drago just stared at the two falling.

Then, twenty feet above the ground, the smaller figure caught up with Shun, did several twists and flips in the air, slowing itself down, and arranged itself in a landing position. Still, it was hard to believe they wouldn't land without any injury.

Dan watched them nervously, heart pounding, until he saw them hit the ground.

He heart jumped when he heard a loud CRACK of bone. The figure let out a sharp cry. Then, it lay Shun on the ground, and fled.

It was limping, and seemed to barely be able to move. It left a trail in crimson blood.

But Dan only had eyes fro Shun. His best friend was lying on the ground helpless, as chills wracked his body.

It was eighty-four degrees inside the shield.

But Drago noted the figure disappearing, and shouted to Dan, "I'm following it! It may have an explanation for why it is here!"

Dan just nodded as he grabbed Shun and called Elright.

Drago

'What is this thing?' Drago wondered to himself, still chasing after it. It was fast, and he was going at maximum speed.

Finally, the thing collapsed, and Drago was on it.

He picked it up in his massive hand, and flung open the cloak. He staggered a little, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

It was...Fabia. Except...she was dead. Or, at least it looked like she was. Or she should be. You could clearly count every one of her ribs, her eyes were sunken in, there wasn't an inch of skin that wasn't covered by blood, and worst of all, her limbs looked as if they were twisted in the wrong direction.

"F-Fabia!?" Drago asked.

She looked up at him, then screamed, as if something was coming at her in the distance, and slowly disappeared, as though she had never actually been there at all.

Drago jumped back, and shouted, "Whaa?"

He put a huge boulder on the spot he had found her, then flew back to the Royal Castle.


	23. Chapter 23

(On The Strange Planet)

"Aaahhhh!" Fabia screamed. She had found out what was after her.

It was a huge mammal of some sort, with dripping fangs that had managed to pierce her body a few times.

Its enormous claws helped it grip the ground as it sped after her, grunting as it ran.

It was catching up to her, running about 25 miles per hour.

She couldn't keep up the pace for much longer. Even with the adrenaline in her body, there was too much stress for it and her mind to take.

Finally, she tripped over a root, and went head over heels into a rapidly flowing river, which carried her downstream.

She struggled against the waters flow, trying to make it back onto dry land. The creature didn't hesitate to jump in after her.

It let itself drift closer to her, and she screamed then, a raw, powerful scream, which startled it, causing it to lose control and smash into giant rocks. Fabia was too small to fight against, the current, and she ended up smashing into them as well.

Unlike the creature, which was flung over them, she was hurled at the rocks, then reclaimed by the water every time it lapped at the boulder.

She nearly lost consciousness as her head was smashed into a giant, sharp spiral of rocks, and her head started bleeding. Tasting the salt in the water from her blood, an instinct for survival kicked in and she fought desperately.

Then Fabia heard the roar. She was being drawn over the edge of the biggest waterfall she had ever seen.

She fought until the very end, when she went over. Water filled her lungs, and her vision went black.

(Back on Neathia)

"Whaaa?" Dan looked incredulously at his battling partner. "Whadyou mean? Fabia's-Fabia is...dead!"

He rose up from the chair he had been sitting in angrily, and slammed his fists on the table. "We were too late to save her...I don't even know where her body is...She's...gone..."

"Dan. Calm down. I'm only telling you what I saw, not necessarily what was." Drago said to him gently.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dan asked, his anger steadily rising.

"It means that-" Drago never had the chance to finish.

Elright struggled into the room, bruised and badly scratched up. But even with one eye swollen shut, he grinned. It was more than a little bit terrifying.

"I found something, something incredible!" He said, staggering as he crossed the room.

He fell, and Dan grabbed him and sat him down.

"Found what?"

"Where Princess Fabia is, and something even better!" Elright was to the point of passing out now from all his injuries, yet he still continued on.

"So...What is it?" Asked Dan, getting frustrated.

"I found something that will keep us alive-well, at least for some time longer!" He opened his palm, and a flower sat there. Even though it had been in his hand, it was still perfectly uncrumpled, and filled the air with its sweet scent.

As soon as Dan inhaled the air, his body started to glow. This happened to all of them. Elrights wounds closed up and healed, without so much as a scar to show the extent of his former injuries.

"What is that?" Drago breathed.

"It's a...Well, I'm not quite sure. But the Shadows who captured me thought it quite important!"

"What Shadows?" Dan asked.

"I was captured by...something. Something that looked like a shadow, hence the name. They shook me up a bit. But, in...wherever I was, there was something glowing in the middle of the room. Something beautiful." He grinned, and tested his legs.

They withstood his weight, and his grin widened.

"So, how can we get this to everyone?" Drago asked.

"We can pump the scent into the air, and everyone will be...better." Elrights smile looked a little more like a sinister smirk, but Dan shook it off. He was probably imagining things.

They set to work and did just that. Everyone was, miraculously, cured-at least for the time being. They didn't know if the effect would last or not, but they would try. Everyone was fighting fit. Even Marucho and Linus, two of the worst, were back to normal.

Sort of.

The scent masked a secret.

On an unknown planet far away 

"The weapon worked better than expected. The agent is in, and has successfully infiltrated the Castle. He has released the weapon."

"Yes. And soon, they will all be our slaves."

Whatever had been talking stopped, and Elright was visible. The Commander of the Castle Knights was tied up and gagged. He looked up at his captors with murder in his eyes. They shocked him, and he went limp.

(Back on the Planet, wherever Fabia was)

"Cli! Clika! Plianka monika chanka!" Fabia heard something strange. It sounded like a language, but it was unlike any language she had ever heard. Made up of clicks and pops, it was very..strange.

Something prodded her, and she groaned, rolling over.

She immediately regretted it. Sharp pain stabbed through her entire body. It felt like she had been smashed by rocks and crushed by an elephant-whatever that was. It was something Dan had said once.

Humanoid life-forms stared back at her. They were much, much larger than she was, at least five or six feet for the larger ones. They had various shades of green or blue colored skin. Their eyes were incredible. They were round, black, and looked as though they had stars in them. Their fingers looked sort of like long sticks, but were long and agile.

The largest one, though, kneeled over her. He-obviously a male, considering the deep sound of his voice-put his head right next to hers, and made a sound that sounded suspiciously like approval. He reached for her face, and she screamed.

It was too much for her to take. She tried to stand up and run away, but her legs couldn't take her weight. So instead she scrambled backward, then fell over and tried pulling herself away from him.

He held up his hands in some sort of surrender.

Fabia reached a large stone, and pulled herself up. When he came toward her, almost pleadingly, she jumped, fell, and hit her head against the rock. Hard.

The last thing she saw before her eyes slid shut was the shocked face of the man.

As she lay there, the man started to issue orders.

(Translators On)

"Galil! Take the child to the sick-hut!"

A motherly, rather large, but caring woman, scooped the small creature up. She put it onto a large leaf that was strong and useful for carrying the wounded and ill. A strong boy came with her to help her with the weight.

Although the creature hardly weighed anything. Galil barely felt the weight at all.

"Mother, are you sure?" Her son, the strong boy, named Garranos, looked at the creature suspiciously. He had to admit, though, she (the strange creature) was beautiful.

Fabia had, when smashed against the boulders, lost control of her transformation into a human, and reverted back to Neathian form. Her hair was longer than his species' hair could grow, and an incredible shade of blue, just like the Inkalia, a large, dangerous, but beautiful creature that haunted the jungle he lived in.

Her fingers were long, thin, and her skin was the most delicate shade of lavender.

They stepped into their hut, which was attached to the sick-hut. Galil was the village's healer. Garranos was learning the trade from her. He blinked when the sunshine suddenly stopped.

Galil laid the girl down on the hut's mattress, stuffed with feathers and various soft grasses. It was bundled into cloth. Usually it was too small for the occupants of the hut, but it was too large for this strange creature.

Galil harrumphed, and Garranos realized he'd been staring. Drooling, more like it. He blushed, and hurried out of the hut, nearly tripping over the steps.

Galil laughed heartily, and the creature started to stir. Galil whispered, "Child. How are you feeling?"

Garranos was back in the hut before he realized it. Galil cast a look at him, but went back to caring for the creature.

She stirred, and moaned. She was obviously in pain. Garranos winced as he saw the cuts and bruises all over her body.

It was incredible she was still alive. No one had ever survived going over the Kaluna Galana. Well, except for one person. But she was long gone.

Garranos watched her anxiously, ready to jump if she needed anything. Usually he hated being in the sick-hut, but he felt like he couldn't move unless he saw her eyes open.

Galil kneeled next to her, and dabbed some cream onto one of the cuts on the creatures beautiful face.

The cooling sensation erased some of the pain, and Fabia opened her eyes.

(Fabia's World)

The creatures loomed over her. One of them was kneeling next to her, dabbing something that cooled and nearly erased all of the pain from the cuts.

Then she saw someone standing at the doorstep, and her heart raced. He was huge.

Much taller than the man who had scared her before, and lanky. But his skin was a pleasing shade of turquoise, and his eyes were bright and full of stars.

The thick ropes of muscle on his arms weren't grotesque, but rather just emphasized how hard he worked.

He had a kind look on his face.

The fact that he was staring at her brought her back to her senses. All of a sudden she realized that she had no idea where she was.

Startling the...woman...who was taking care of her, she did some rolls and a flip to get out of the bed.

Her legs couldn't hold her weight, and she grabbed the wood of the hut to keep herself steady. She tried to run outside, but fell, nearly falling ten feet.

In preparation for the yearly floods, the people put their houses on stilts. That way they wouldn't drown and didn't have to constantly move.

Before she fell headfirst, a pair of arms grabbed her.

She stiffened, and was panicked.

Then suddenly she realized how hopeless everything was. She had no idea where she was, she couldn't understand the people who were taking care of her, and she didn't know if Shun was alive.

Worst of all, these kind people who were taking care of her must have been offended when she ran away from them.

Tears slipped down her face as she thought of the Brawlers, and Shun.

(Garrano's world)

Her eyes. They were incredible. The most unusual, stunning shade of green he had ever seen.

Then he realized something...she was crying.

The beautiful stranger was crying. Why was she crying? He only meant to save her.

But then she stopped struggling.

Slowly, hesitantly, he brought her closer to his chest.

She sobbed and turned her head into his chest.

He gazed down at her.

This was the only girl who had ever captured his interest. Plenty of girls from his village had been interested, but he was never interested back.

When he felt the tears soaking his clothing, he sat down next to her on the bed. She looked exhausted and frightened. He reached for her face, and she drew back.

He shook his head at her, and reached for her face again. She slumped and allowed him to.

His fingers explored her face. She definitely had some bad cuts. They were deep, too.

Garranos had a gift for sensing how to treat injuries. He stood up, and took some leaves from a bowl, and ground them up. Then, he added some water and some sort of creamy substance. He added something that smelled like mint.

Then, asking permission with his eyes, dipped his long fingers in it, and gently spread it on the cuts. She sighed with relief.

He grinned.

Finally she was trusting him, at least somewhat.

After finishing the bowl, he took something that looked like a needle, and some thread, and motioned towards her face.

She turned pale, but nodded bravely.

He smiled gently at her, and, in one quick motion, started sewing the flesh back together.

She hissed, and he glanced at her. Skin on the face was the most difficult and the most painful to sew back together.

She was sitting stiffly, and her eyes were clenched shut. He felt very guilty about what he was doing, but he knew he had too. Otherwise infection would set in.

Finally he was done. She slumped against him with relief, and he grinned back at her.

She smiled up at him, and his heart almost stopped. She was so incredibly beautiful.

He lay her down, ever so gently, and put a pillow under her head. She yawned, and his heart almost burst. She was too adorable.

Drawing a blanket over her, he set up a cot in the same hut, and lay down on it. Tonight he would watch over her.

He blew out the lamp.

(Back On Neathia)

Shun was outside somewhere, alone except for Hawktor as he had been since regaining his strength. He was too angry and hurt to deal with anyone.

The Brawlers could respect that.

Dan tried to convince him to do something, anything, but Shun would just shake his head and disappear into the jungle.

He would stay there for hours, until night fell. What Shun did there Dan didn't know. But he had noticed Shun losing weight.

He wouldn't-or couldn't-eat anything and it was making him sick. Even with the flower's effect, he became sicker and sicker.

Still, he refused medical attention.

Dan decided to go find him.


	24. Chapter 24

(Back on the unknown planet)

The strange creature was starting to trust Garranos more and more. His adoration for her grew as well.

But she was very quick to be startled by things. Once, when a large item popped in a fire, she threw herself down.

He wondered what had happened to her.

Whatever it was must have been horrible.

But he still couldn't communicate effectively with her.

(Fabia's World)

The strange, but very kind boy/man led her around.

Well, more of carried her around. She still couldn't walk, and she missed Shun so much.

This boy reminded her of him.

There was one problem, though. She couldn't talk to him, or understand what he said.

So, after debating with Aranaut for a while (he had been hidden away just in case the people freaked out), she decided to summon her energy and transform into one of his kind.

That had been the day before.

Now, coming back to her senses, she realized he was staring into the distance.

She had to admit, this planet was beautiful. But she needed to find the antidote.

So, she motioned for him to put her down. He did as she asked, confused.

Fabia closed her eyes and imagined herself as one of their kind, with a few changes, to make the transformation easier on her mind and body.

(Garrano's World)

The beautiful girl asked him to put her down. He did so, confused and slightly worried.

Had she fallen ill? Did she not trust him anymore?

Then, when she closed her eyes, he watched in awe as she began to change.

She became two feet taller, and everything about her became longer.

Her skin became less smooth, but a brilliant shade of green. Her eyes were not black, but rather a midnight blue. And the stars in them glistened brighter than the stars above.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a body quite unlike the ones she was used to. Her clothing was rough and sturdy.

She opened her mouth, and asked, "Who are you? Where am I?"

Garranos nearly passed out. She had transformed! There were legends about shifters like her.

He thought that she must be a goddess.

He answered, sitting down next to her, "I am Garranos. You are in my village, on the planet Karranos. Who are you and how did you get here? Why did you come here? And...what are you?"

She responded in a clear, regal voice. "I am Princess Fabia. I came here by a transporter." Seeing his blank look, she hurried to explain.

"A futuristic device brought me here, and I am here to save my home planet. I am a Neathian. I have the ability to shift into any species I like, although it drains my energy quickly."

He stared at her. A Princess? She was royalty. He stood up, and tried to bow, when she grabbed his sleeve.

She said uncomfortably, "Please don't. I'm just a person. No one special. But, please, could you help me, Garranos? My family on my home planet is in danger of dying and it's all my fault!" She buried her face in her hands, and Garranos didn't hesitate to pick her up and soothe her.

She smiled at him through tear-laden eyes, and he couldn't help the goofy grin that spread across his face in response.

Fabia laughed, then became serious. They sat there for hours as she told him her story.

She told him about the war, about losing her love, and about saving her best friend. She also told him of the Brawlers.

Garranos noticed she sounded dreamy when she spoke of the ninja, and he became jealous.

He shook himself. The last thing Fabia needed was another problem on her hands.

When she told him about her being taken over, he frowned and recalled a legend about the Faulana, a spirit who took over other's bodies and fed on their emotions.

No one had ever overcome it before. All who had tried had failed.

When she was done, he told her his story. How his father had been killed when he was a small child, hunting. He suspected it was someone in the jungle, watching them hunt, but he never knew.

Then he told the legend of the Faulana. Her eyes widened but she kept quiet until the story was over.

When he was finally done, her eyes grew watery and suddenly, she lost all of her energy, shifting first into a human, then into her Neathian form.

Tears ran down her face as she thought of Shun and how she-the creature-almost killed him.

Garranos, startled by this change of events, picked her up, and stroked her hair, murmuring soothingly to her all the while.

Neathians had the ability to learn a language by becoming one of the planet's forms. So she knew Garranos's language by now.

She said to him,"I almost killed my...very best friend because of it. It was all my fault. I don't know how it got me, but I let it and it did."

She buried her face into his shirt, and he hugged her closer to him. He marveled at how right this felt.

Him comforting her, her hugging him. It seemed only natural for him to try...

He lifted up her chin, and looked deep into her eyes.

He leaned forward, and...

She stopped crying, and looked panicked. Fabia jumped up and tried to run towards the forest but didn't manage it. She limped as fast as she could into it, though, and when she reached a tree, swung from it into the next one. She didn't stop, and Garranos stood up, disappointed in himself and in his lack of understanding.

Obviously this..Shun...was her mate. She loved him, not Garranos.

Garranos went back home, and hoped she would come back. Even if she didn't love him, he would always love her.

It was hours later when Fabia returned. Garranos had prepared a long speech to her about how he was sorry, but she returned, shining.

"What's up?" He asked. He had never seen her this happy.

"I found it! I found the cure!" Fabia said, nearly dancing.

"Where? Where did you find it?" Garranos had known all along there was a cure, but he didn't want to tell her.

It was...risky. The cure involved taking the blood of a person who had the Faulana in their souls-a lot of blood, enough to make someone's heart almost stop-and mixing it with a poison of a certain amphibious species on his planet.

"Yes! We need to find the Icinoabla!", said Fabia, her eyes pleading with him.

"I-" Started Garranos. But her beautiful eyes were too much to take. "I-Fine." He sighed, dropping his head.

"Yes!" Fabia nearly squealed, then dashed forward, giving him a peck on the cheek.

He stood there in wonder, then, while Fabia gathered supplies for the trip, his hand slowly explored the area where her lips had touched.

When she shouted, "Let's go!", he jumped. He had been lost in his own little world.

Fabia grabbed his hand to pull him outside, and a blush crept up his cheeks as he looked at their joined hands.

Garranos chuckled, and scooped her up, making her squeal.

"Hey!"

"No-you're still hurt and we don't want you to hurt yourself, Princess!" He told her.

She pouted, and his heart nearly leapt out of his chest.

She was too adorable.

Finally, they got there. The temple of the Iranoqoi Tribe, Garranos's ancestors. The frogs only lived there.

Fabia hopped down from his arms, and he reached down to steady her before she could fall over.

She looked around, and spotted a beautiful golden frog with emerald specks on its skin.

Before she could pick it up with her bare hands, Garranos stopped her, warning, "This is the most deadly creature you will find on my planet. If you touch it without protection on your skin, you will die. It is a promise, sweetheart."

Fabia frowned at the pet name, but decided to let it go.

She pulled on gloves and a hat which sort of draped over her face nicely.

She turned around to see Garranos staring at her.

"What?" She asked.

"Huh!?" He was startled. He had been lost in her beauty.

"Oh, nothing. Just...thinking." He smiled sheepishly at her, and his heart jumped when she grinned back at him.

"All right. Now, I've got to just...catch it!" She had tried to jump onto it to catch it, but it was wickedly fast.

So, she pulled out Aranaut, and whispered to him, "See if you can catch him-he can't hurt you, but please make sure you aren't seen!"

Aranaut nodded, and flew after the little frog. Fabia followed his every move, and pretended to be the one to catch it when he dropped the angry frog into her hand.

She whispered, "Thanks. I owe you one!", as she slipped him back into her pocket.

Aranaut thought, 'I would do anything for you, Princess, and I know you would do anything for me.'

Fabia, beaming triumphantly, skipped over to Garranos, and placed the frog in his hand, which was gloved.

He asked, "Are you sure you want to do this? It might kill you. If it doesn't, you will have pain like you have never felt. Even you can't begin to understand the depths of this pain. It changes people, Fabia!" He was shouting at her, tears running down his face

There was a deep connection between the two, and Garranos didn't know what is was. What he did know was that he didn't want to lose it.

She had closed her eyes, and when she opened them, he was surprised to see tears in them. "Yes, yes I do. I want to go home. Please help me. I can't do it without you."

Garranos sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose, a habit he had picked up from his father.

"Ok."

Fabia grinned at him, and threw her arms around him. Too soon, she let him go.

Garranos nearly reached for her, missing the warmth and sparks that shot through his body every time she touched him.

He had her lie down on the ancient stones, and he brought out the rope.

Seeing it, she raised her eyebrows. "What's that for?"

He blushed when he realized what it looked like. "No! That's not what it's-People have killed themselves when the pain hits. It is that intense. I-I don't want to see any part of you hurt."

'Especially not your beautiful face.' He thought.

Fabia looked at him strangely, and his face flushed a deep crimson.

Had he said that aloud?

"Yes, you did." She laughed.

"Wankan!" He swore.

She was turning red from laughing so hard.

He smiled at her, then remembered his task.

All playfulness gone, he became serious. "Let's get this over with."

Not anticipating his change of mood, Fabia looked at him closely.

"Garranos, you don't have to do this if you don't want too." She told him gently.

"No. I will be here with you the entire way." He said firmly.

She nodded.

He tied every part of her down. She was ridiculously strong for such a small little creature. Garranos didn't want to take any chances.

Finally, he strapped down her wrist, and leaned over it.

He licked his teeth, and felt his canines extend. He frowned, remembering how he had lost control one time of his hunting instincts.

'One day, a little boy came running into the woods, on all fours. He sniffed the air, and he frowned. Something was bleeding. And it was close. Although most of his people would kill anything bleeding from lack of control, Garranos was different. He liked saving things.

But he didn't know how to save himself from his own instincts.

He found the source of the bleeding; a mother and her baby. The mother (which looked almost like a deer), had deep scratches up and down her back from tussling with a predator in a desperate attempt to save and protect her baby.

He started to look it over; the animals trusted him. As the touched the blood, he suddenly realized he hadn't eaten anything at all that day. It was getting harder and harder to concentrate on anything except for the blood, which looked more and more appetizing by the minute.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, and sank his teeth in. The mother bucked and squirmed, but in doing so, broke her neck.

The baby whimpering was the only thing that brought him back to his senses.

He put the body down gently, quivering. Then, he was sick on the ground. He had killed something. In front of it's baby.

Was he really that much of a monster? Even in his tribe, you weren't allowed to murder a mother and baby.

He bolted out of the bush, and then stopped in his tracks. He sniffed the air carefully. There was a predator.

He raced back to the place where the baby had been, and found a humongous Inaki hovering over it. It was nearly dead.

He scared off the Inaki, and miraculously, got the baby to live.

He took care of it for years, as his pet, and the baby, a she, learned to trust him.

Even so, he never ate raw meat again. Even though a fire could kill him if it was spotted by a rival tribe, he always said a prayer of thanks toward the animals' spirits, and cooked their meat carefully, not wasting a single bone. Every part that could be eaten or used was. He never took trophies, though.

To him, the idea of cutting off an animal's head-the place where all of its life came from-and putting it in a house, sickened him.

It was wrong. Disgusting, shameful, and disrespectful.'

He shook his head, bringing himself out of the memory.

His canines extended fully, and quickly, before he could change his mind, he sank them into Fabia's arm.

She jerked in surprise, then pain. There was venom in his teeth, and it could kill if not taken care of within one day. She tried to stay still, but couldn't.

She looked at him, eyes wide, as he started to drink her blood. He hadn't meant to-she was the most amazing flavor he had ever experienced.

It was almost buttery in taste, but sweet. It filled his senses.

It was the perfect blood.

When the tears started slipping down her face, Garranos noticed what he was doing.

He jerked back, and his teeth ripped her vein open wider.

She started bleeding heavily, and he shouted.

Quickly, he brought the frog to the vein, where it expelled all the poison it had in its system into Fabia's veins.

Then, he let the creature go.

Now came the hard part. Sealing the wounds, but without Fabia thinking he was a pervert (something he had learned about from her).

Garranos licked the area around her wrist, and blushed. A warmth filled his...everything. A fire was ignited, and he almost couldn't stop.

He was in love, there was no denying that.

Along with love came other...not so...pure...emotions.

He had wanted to kiss her, everywhere, for so long, but knew it was wrong.

So, finally, when he had the chance, he took it.

When the wound was closed, he was still kissing her wrist.

She was unconscious by now. The poison had entered her veins. It would be a long process, and an agonizing one. Her blood would literally turn into poison, killing her unless she had the antidote.

An antidote, which was, embarrassingly, sharing a kiss with Garranos's species.

Not a simple peck, though. It required...more than that.

A very deep, very involved sort of kiss, if you caught their drift.

He opened his eyes, and scrabbled backward. This girl was going to drive him crazy.

But he banished all thoughts of lust when he heard her scream.

It had started.


	25. Chapter 25

(Back On Neathia)

Dan found Shun, passed out, clutching a picture of Fabia and him to his heart.

It was back when Fabia and Shun had first met.

When he had finally heard her story, he saw a flash of pain in her eyes as she looked up into the sunset.

He had asked her, "Princess, what's wrong?"

She had said to him, "Shun, why do people die?"

He had been startled by the question, and had thought carefully about it. He replied, "So new life can live."

She had smiled at him; he remembered being struck by her beauty. As the sun had set behind her, it set her hair ablaze.

He had thought he had seen a glimmer of a tear in her eye. He hadn't said anything of it, afraid to insult her.

Fabia, looking at the sun, said, "The sun is like that, don't you think? It is born every day, and dies every day. Yet, somehow, it lives on. It dies but still doesn't. I believe people are like that, too."

Shun had tried to hold back tears at the memory of his mother, but was startled to see a lone tear run its way down the curve of Fabia's face.

He let one slip, too.

"Shun! Get up!" Dan was screaming at him.

Shun wanted to stay in his dream world, where happy memories were always present.

He couldn't stand the present, where heartbreak was unavoidable.

Pain was an ever-present part of life. And life without Fabia was meaningless.

But he knew he had to get up. Fabia would want her people to remain safe forever. And Shun knew he would do just that up to the day he died.

Suddenly, he rose up, and attacked Dan. His punches were sloppy and unfocused, and he kept blinking back tears.

Shun wasn't even looking as he threw punches.

Dan caught his arm, and twisted it slightly, not enough to hurt him if he was paying attention.

Shun fell. He stood back up, and rushed Dan again.

When Dan won, knocking Shun to the ground, he blinked. That had never happened before.

What was wrong with Shun?

(On The Strange Planet)

Fabia was doing her best not to scream. The pain was like a thousand knives stabbing every part of her, except on a molecular level, which was worse.

She shifted between her three forms.

Her nails dug deep into her palms, causing blood to stream out of them.

Garranos watched helplessly. He couldn't pry her hands open, and all he could do was wait.

Her skin changed color as the poison infiltrated her blood, turning the crimson liquid silver.

It was thick, and slippery, looking like mercury.

Her skin turned silver as well.

Her beautiful green eyes turned an icy blue. Her hair was the only thing that didn't change.

As Garranos watched on, she finally stopped struggling, and passed out.

Her undid her bonds, and held her to him.

She whimpered, something he knew she wouldn't have done if she had been awake.

Fabia's breathing became more and more shallow.

Then, it stopped completely.

He panicked, and tried to pump her chest, trying to get her heart to restart.

It didn't work.

So he did something he had never dreamed he would be capable of.

He put his mouth on hers, and tried to force air into her lungs.

Garranos was so focused on making her breathe that he didn't see her wave her arms weakly.

He only stopped when she coughed, and weakly pushed him off.

He studied her face carefully.

It was still glowing silver.

He said carefully to her, "How are you feeling?"

She smiled weakly at him, and replied sarcastically, "Never better. Why, how are you?"

He grinned. She was okay.

Garranos said, very serious now, "Now comes the weird part. We have to drain your body of half of it's blood to make enough anti-venom. Then, you have to kmisdfsh me."

"What?"

He sighed; may as well get it over with. Boy oh boy, he couldn't wait to see her reaction!

"You have to kiss me." He glanced at her.

She shrugged. "Okay. No problem."

Fabia took his face in her hands, and pecked him on the lips.

His body erupted in fireworks. He was dizzy from the excitement of it.

Garranos managed to compose himself and said, "Not like that. It has to be...involved. With..." He motioned to his mouth.

Fabia scrambled backwards. Wait, she had to...French Kiss him?

That wasn't in her job description.

She thought about how it could hurt Shun, and was about to say no, but then realized it would hurt him more-kill him, actually-if he died.

So she sighed, and asked, "Can we do this a little later?"

He shook his head. "The venom will kill you if not properly dispersed within two hours."

Her face dropped.

He tried to hide his hurt.

Seeing the expression on his face, Fabia was quick to explain.

"It's not because I don't want to kiss you, it's because I was hoping to try to contact my home world." She held out her wrist, and he leaned forward to slit it again.

The second his teeth touched her blood, she let out a scream.

He stopped, and Fabia motioned for him to do it. To drain her blood.

He had brought along several glass bottles for this exact purpose.

As the blood rushed out into the jars, it was all he could do to keep the jars coming.

Fabia became weaker and weaker, and finally, when her heart slowed down too dramatically, he stopped, and looked around.

There were fifty glass bottles the size of a small cat on the ground near them.

He had drained too much.

Desperate to save her, he picked her up, and gently shook her awake.

When her eyes opened, he could see the poison was taking over her body.

Her eyes-even the whites-were silver, and her body was starting to go into its death throes.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So alright! The already written part is copied down, the last two paragraphs are my own writing as I'm changing the direction of things slightly.

She whispered, "Garranos. Please."

He bent over, and roughly captured her lips in a kiss.

She gasped, and he took the chance to kiss her even deeper.

She struggled weakly, and he felt bad, but it was the only way to save her life.

He kissed her for as long as he could, knowing he would never have another chance.

Fabia had stopped struggling, and just lay there in his arms, tears streaking down her face.

When he finally noticed, he pulled away immediately, cursing himself.

She struggled to sit up, and he helped her. She shrugged his arm off of her, and Garranos understood.

He waited patiently for her to speak.

After four hours of complete silence, Fabia spoke one word.

"Time."

Garranos knew instantly what she meant. They were running out of time for the antidote to be delivered. If the two were going to save her planet from mass extinction, they needed to get going.

Fabia picked herself up off the ground, and there seemed to be some sort of insect flying around her. Garranos came closer to investigate, but she held it protectively behind her.

He sat down, and she reverted back to her Neathian form almost immediately. Fabia nearly fell to the ground. Almost half of the blood in her body had been drained to make the antidote. She hadn't realized how much it would exhaust her.

Nevertheless, she summoned all of her remaining energy, and Aranaut's as well, and working together, they created a transport tunnel.

Garranos gathered the bottles, then, hanging on to her, they floated into the tunnel to face the unknown and their hope.

(On Neathia)

"No...Get...out of my...head...Aagh..." Shun grabbed his head, and tried to fight the darkness sweeping into his head.

It was to no avail. It found his every weakness, and exploited them to it's advantage.

All his negative thoughts about himself, his past, his friends, everything.

By this time, everyone had been completely taken over by the thing.

Only Shun was left.

The monster took full control of his body, just as Fabia-and was that an alien?-arrived.

Inside his head, Shun screamed desperately for Fabia to run. Not a sound came out of his open mouth.

The creature had full control, and Shun had none.

He could only watch as he advanced towards her as she pulled out a jar of-was that blood?

She took out a syringe, and plunged it into the bottle, drawing out some of it, and then grabbing the nearest person, ignoring the fact that their hands were at the moment trying to strangle her, and jabbed it deep into their flesh.

That first person happened to be Jake, and immediately the creature's hold on him relinquished, and Jake fought him out the rest of the way, shouting various expletives.

He woke up to see Fabia-and why was there an alien with her?-swiftly dispersing the antidote, and he rose to help her.

When Fabia gently inserted the syringe into Linus's bloodstream, and pushed, dispersing the medicine, he kicked, hard, and she went flying back, straight into Jake, who checked her over.

She was bleeding from one ankle, and it twisted the wrong way. He sat her down, or at least tried to.

She shook her head, not trusting her voice, and pointed to the people coming back from the monster's control.

Eventually, the only one left was Shun.

Most of the others hadn't woken up immediately, probably because of the exhaustion of fighting the creature for so long.

The alien came up to Fabia, and rested his hand on her shoulder.

She smiled at him, then began to walk towards Shun slowly.

The creature would have nothing of it. He rushed her, making her stumble, then attacked viciously.

Fabia held her ground very well, dodging and blocking punches and kicks for what seemed like hours. Until finally she managed to pin Shun to a rock wall, both of their bodies were exhausted, Fabia from her ordeal and Shun from his desperate fighting of the creature inside him, but Fabia seemed to be in slightly better condition as she managed to win. 

As soon as she had Shun pinned she grabbed the Syringe and jammed it into Shun’s chest, the silvery liquid entered his body and Shun collapsed; the creature had used all of his energy to fight Fabia now that it wasn’t holding him up he was too weak to even hold his eyes open. He was out in less than ten seconds.


End file.
